Snapshots
by thefanwithashortattentionspan
Summary: One shots based on different moments in the lives of the two women who make up Piltover's finest. Vi x Caitlyn
1. Paperwork

As she stared longingly through the glass that made up the right wall of the office, Vi reflected that she had always had a problem with authority. Stemming primarily from the fact she didn't like to be told what to do. Azure eyes scanned across the Piltover city skyline, focusing on a flock of birds soaring leisurely above the skyscrapers that dominated the city of progress. Her eyes narrowed at the birds, sure that they were flaunting their freedom just to reinforce the bleakness of her current situation. Begrudgingly she tore her eyes from the summer scenery outside, though refusing to lift her head from its current position pressed against her right palm.

Not only was she comfortable, she also did not want to alert the other person in the room to the distinct lack of paperwork being completed in lieu of contemplating a daring escape through the window and into the bustling city below the Piltover police department. Daydreaming brought a glazed look over the enforcers face, as she imagined storming over to the desk of the sheriff, shoving the piles of paperwork onto the floor and demanding that they go get ice cream right now. Followed by her boss jumping into her arms and saying "I thought you'd never ask" with a cloying look just before Vi used her gauntlets to destroy the window then jump out onto the roofs of nearby buildings to parkour their way down into the city below.

"I beg your pardon, but you don't appear to have completed much of your assigned papers" came a curt and clipped voice next to Vi's right ear "If any at all..." Vi was drawn back to earth much the same way she did everything, with a crash. She turned to her right only to find Caitlyn, the famed sheriff of Piltover towering and glowering over her with her arms crossed and a finely manicured eyebrow daintily raised. The expression was one that Vi found herself increasingly familiar with, it meant danger. In a vain attempt to defuse the situation, she decided to feign ignorance, a bold strategy.

"Hey you" she greeted with a charming smile "I was just trying to understand what this question here means, you know I'm still learning the lingo" finishing with an exaggerated sigh and a thrust of her hands behind her head. "Terminology" stated Caitlyn, Vi looked up into her face and raised her own, much less groomed, eyebrow "huh?" she replied with a scrunch of her nose, her very own confused face. "Lingo is a colloquial term, the correct word to use is terminology"'

Vi stared up into Caitlyn's face, trying to ascertain whether she was being serious, for some reason the Sheriff had taken a dislike to her 'vernacular' and had become a walking and talking thesaurus. While she was far easier on the eye than an ordinary book, the reaction from Vi remained the same to both, which was incredulous silence and a scrunched face. Caitlyn sighed and leaned over the paperwork at question, quickly scanning it in attempt to glean what Vi had become confused by. Her eyes darkened and narrowed as she turned to face her partner in countering crime "What precisely were you confused by in this question?" she queried drawing her face level with Vi's.

For the first time now Vi glanced at the paper on top of the pile and was utterly dismayed to find it was an almost blank page with only two questions on it. "Were you unsure of your name or your rank...?" Caitlyn questioned through gritted teeth, her eyes remained fixed on Vi, who was currently attempting to exchange souls with a spider underneath her desk. Vi scowled as this proved fruitless and chanced a glance up into Caitlyn's face, which was thunderous. The enforcer sighed inwardly, accepting her fate and offered an almost sincere "I'm sorry I got distracted, I'm just so bo-'" wincing at how close she had come to saying the word that would be sure to get her a lecture like no other, "-thered by how nice a day it is outside." What a save, internally she had a congratulatory high five, chancing her eyes upwards at Caitlyn, only to find the other woman smiling. It wasn't her manufactured polite smile for acquaintances and colleagues, nor was it her relaxed and casual one, much to Vi's dismay it was not even the cocky smirk often seen on the rift.

Prior to becoming half of Piltover's finest, for every problem Vi faced, her proven solution was always to punch and beat the shit out of it wherever she could. Unfortunately for Vi, the biggest problem she faced in her daily life following Caitlyn's offer of a job, was the lady herself. Whether it was a lecture on how swilling out a cup did not qualify as washing it, or the stern glance she received whenever she came to work a bit hungover, it was apparent that Caitlyn liked things to be just so. Unfortunately for the both of them, Vi liked things her own way too, and they were both exceptionally stubborn. Her issue therefore was that no matter how much she sometimes wanted to punch a Caitlyn shaped hole out of her life, it really wasn't appropriate. Not only as it would probably not be best to batter your boss, but also because Caitlyn was quickly becoming a great friend, despite her many flaws.

Vi tried to remind herself of this as she braced for the verbal onslaught she was to receive, if this were one of her comic books, Caitlyn would be sure to have steam coming out of her ears. Caitlyn stared into Vi's eyes, a painful looking imitation of a smile affixed onto her face and whispered "Pray tell, why are we inside completing a mountain of paperwork on such a lovely summers day?" Before Vi had the opportunity to open her mouth Caitlyn answered herself with a sarcastic "Oh that's right, it is because a particular pink haired enforcer decided that in order to stop a bank heist, it was completely necessary to not only smash through three walls, but also to tear the vault door off its hinges and use it as a battering ram."

Vi winced at how the other woman's tone had not only sharpened during the exposition but how her voice had raised and her face remained so close to Vi's that she could hear her rapidly exhaling. Having their faces so near to one another, Vi could not help but think of exceptionally naughty things, as Caitlyn's chest heaved and her lips remained parted. Vi had always been attracted to women, from puberty onwards at least, and was particularly forthcoming about being a lesbian. Since joining the Piltover police department, she often found it difficult to concentrate on issues like protecting and serving the people, primarily because so many attractive women also worked with her. None more so than the sheriff herself, she was well endowed in certain places and was gorgeous, not to mention she spent most of her time around Vi agitated, which was fast becoming a real turn on.

Vi realised that she ought to say something, possibly in defence of herself or even just downright apologetic, regardless, Caitlyn was waiting for a response, becoming more frustrated by the silence. Her eyebrow arched as Vi took the risky route of defending herself "Hey, I was just worried about the people that were trapped in the office, it was only the two of us and I wanted to use the element of surprise" she stated surely, crossing her arms defiantly at her partner and staring back into dark brown orbs that narrowed with her statement "If I hadn't acted quickly, one of the hostages could have been hurt.'

The two continued to stare at each other defiantly until Caitlyn finally pulled further from Vi and grabbed the bridge of her forehead with her fingers responding with" I know Vi. I know. I appreciate your quick thinking in helping to secure the hostages, they were the main priority as you well know. I just wish you weren't so reckless in damaging property to apprehend the suspects. It makes the amount of paperwork we have to complete afterwards almost unbearable." Caitlyn flicked through the stack on Vi's desk, placing each sheet down after explaining precisely what they were "Accident reports. Property costs. Civilian lawsuits. Arrest papers" she sighed and stared out of the window looking positively forlorn.

The enforcer stared after the sheriff, trying to contemplate the behavioural 180 she had just witnessed, beginning to feel apologetic she decided to stand up from her seat behind the desk and join the other woman. Placing her right hand on her shoulder, Vi sighed and admitted "I know. I am sorry. I suppose rushing in without thinking isn't always great" she moved to face Caitlyn and put both her hands on the brunettes shoulders "just, you know, paperwork really sucks. I didn't realise when I signed up to being the enforcer, that I would have so much of it to do." When Caitlyn looked up into Vi's face she was surprised to see that she was being sincere in her apology, an assessment made easier not only because the sheriff was an excellent detective but also because Vi wore all her emotions on her face.

Upon self reflection, Caitlyn had realised that she was being a touch sharp towards Vi. The enforcer, whilst being unpolished, always meant well, and was probably as tired as herself. To be brutally honest, she felt shattered, they had been on the night shift together and spent most of it on stake out for a wanted fugitive, which was always tiring. Around eight in the morning, just when they had decided to head home, there was contact about an emergency hostage situation at the bank. Fortunately no one was harmed in the cessation of it, however it was an hour before they could head back to the quiet of the office. Here they had sat for the better part of three hours completing the necessary after action reports, well Caitlyn had anyway.

Vi looked so downtrodden that Caitlyn could not remain angry or even frustrated at the other woman. Even though, she reflected, the amount of paperwork she had to complete had nearly quadrupled since Vi joined the police department. Which had in truth only been a few weeks ago, she supposed that going from a lone wolf vigilante mindset to becoming a responsible police officer had to be difficult. Caitlyn sighed and did something that was quite foreign to her and moved closer to Vi and embraced the other woman in a close hug. As she wrapped her arms around the midsection of the much taller woman, Vi seemed to come out of a trance and was absolutely dumbfounded to find herself in this situation. She had been berating herself internally for thinking that she could ever become a police officer, being too brash and 'ill-mannered' to quote the woman now embracing her.

For failing to even begin any of her assigned tasks since they had come back from the bank heist, armed thugs with crowbars were no real difficulty for her, Vi was sure she was to be given her marching orders. She was exhausted from the day and absolutely buzzing with adrenaline following the successful rescue of the hostages and the capture and arrest of all the perps. The last thing she wanted was to sit in the office they both shared and spend an eternity completing paperwork, though she kind of understood it was necessary, almost. Her arms had been pressed against her sides in shock at the personal contact, something neither of them had much experience with, but now she brought them up and wrapped Caitlyn in a bear hug.

The two women embraced for a short time before Caitlyn broke apart and smiled at Vi before exclaiming "Now then, how about a compromise? I have already completed all my work for the day" at this, Caitlyn crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow at Vi, though in a much more jovial manner than earlier. "if I assist you in finishing the rest of the paperwork, we can leave as soon as it is done and take the rest of the afternoon off?" Vi was positively beaming at the suggestion and already planning what flavours of ice cream she would try, which would be all of them, naturally. "If" Caitlyn interjected, barging into Vi's ice cream fantasy "you make a conscientious effort to be less destructive, especially during arrests, and complete the necessary paperwork assigned to you."

Vi gave an impression of contemplating the offer, though she was very keen on leaving the office and going literally anywhere else, she supposed that she should probably reign it in a little with the excessive damage and it was only fair to split everything evenly with her partner, including filing. She narrowed her eyes staring out the window and tapping her finger on her chin, her face a portrait of deep thought, sighing, she turned to face Caitlyn who was staring at her with an arm resting on her hip and a relaxed smirk on her face. "Okay, I'm in, but only if we can get ice cream" stated Vi, her ultimatum laid bare, the brunette struggled to maintain a serious visage and let out a small involuntary giggle, which she ceased immediately.

Vi for her part, figured that she had imagined the giggle, it being so out of the ordinary for her boss to act in such manner. She heard no objections and so set to work, throwing herself on the chair behind her desk, she pulled over the first sheet and began the rigorous process of filling in her name and rank. Caitlyn was still standing close to Vi and took the opportunity of her colleague being engrossed in after action reports to watch her for a short time. Vi was something of an enigma to Caitlyn, though by her own admission, the sheriff was an exceptional detective, with analytical reasoning to rival the top scientists in Piltover, of which there were many. Sometimes, for example, when Vi had destroyed an entire café attempting to trap Jinx within the rubble, Caitlyn struggled to remember why she had offered a job to the woman in the first place. Especially when her superiors within the police department often felt that the cons of her aggressive policing style far outweighed the positives.

Occasionally though, and far more frequent lately, Vi would do something that would surprise the sheriff. Such as fetching her favourite cupcakes when she was forced to work during her lunch so they could share them, or offering to walk Caitlyn home after a particularly late shift, even though it was not remotely close to Vi's apartment. She smiled, walking over to Vi's desk to grab a chunk of the work remaining, before taking it over to her own and getting stuck in. She supposed it might be nice to take the afternoon off and spend it walking around the city with Vi, at least she wouldn't be bored. With a final glance at Vi, who was evidently deep in concentration, her tongue was poking through her lips as she attempted to make sense of the 'lingo', Caitlyn began writing in amicable silence with a smile on her face.


	2. Stake Out

"Want to play a game?" whispered Vi as eerily as she could into Caitlyn's ear. The object of her attention was absorbed, as she always was, by her work. She was holding binoculars to her face and gazing keenly into the upstairs window of a much frequented gentleman's club in a run down area of Piltover. Though it was the city of progress, it was still a city, and therefore home to a few less savoury districts. Caitlyn shushed her without even moving, her eyes remained focused on the window, Vi glanced upwards and was unsurprised to see nothing. They had been staking out this location for the past three nights attempting to catch glimpse of their suspect, an agent brokering some sort of arms deal with the psychopath Jinx. They had fairly good intelligence that the suspect was a blonde male in his mid twenties, who happened to frequent this establishment, though for the life of her, Caitlyn could not understand why.

While not being excited about the prospect of silently observing the 'Hexual Sealing', which she had found a fairly clever name if a touch juvenile, Caitlyn always relished an opportunity to conduct some real detective work. Policing in Piltover tended to be patrols and paperwork, which were necessary if boring aspects of being sheriff. Rarely was she able to use her exceptionally keen deductive skills to help bring criminals to justice, and she was determined to find their suspect prior to him enabling Jinx to attain any more weapons. Caitlyn could feel herself bristling at the thought of their last meeting with the self titled loose cannon, Jinx had tricked them into attempting to capture her only to escape at the last moment, once again. Not only had the ensuing chase caused hundreds of thousands in property damage, with Jinx's insane desire for chaos matched only by Vi's excessive destruction in the pursuit of her, but it had left Caitlyn feeling like a failure.

She was very proud of her intelligence and analytical reasoning, they were valuable traits in her chosen career because most people make logical choices and their motivations are easy to understand and predict. Unless of course you are completely insane and your motivation in life is just to cause chaos and blow things up. Caitlyn was finding herself at a loss to predicting and countering the blue haired criminal, and it was absolutely bothering her. That was one of the many reasons she had reached out to the woman next to her in the vehicle, as perhaps a new attitude and a more down to earth perspective could help to predict their common foe. A notorious one that had so far eluded capture and caused destructive chaos throughout her city, Caitlyn's hands clenched around the binoculars and she started to unconsciously scowl.

"Snog, marry, kill?" came a voice within the vehicle, Caitlyn had been so lost in her scathing self criticism that she had almost forgotten she was not alone. She tore from her gaze on the window pulling the binoculars away from her face and turned towards her partner, who was staring back with a smile on her face. "Snog, marry, kill?" Vi repeated "it's a game where one person picks three people and the other has to choose which option for each person." Caitlyn stared back at Vi incredulous, actually lost for words for once in her life and could only gape back, Vi thought she was doing a pretty apt impression of that giant catfish on the rift. Vi grinned and asked "What, have you never played it before? It's a fairly common game, look I'll start" the enforcer ran one of her hands through her pink hair, ruffling it as she stared out of the car deep in thought "hmm, okay, Ahri, Janna and Leona."

Caitlyn stared back at Vi, exclaiming "What a horrid game, why would you want to play that? It just sounds incredibly harsh, I don't want to do any of those things to any of those people" she resumed staring at the door to the club for a minute or so before turning back and demanding "and why are all my options women?" Vi responded with a cheeky grin, eyes sparkling and a self assured statement of "wishful thinking." The sheriff rolled her eyes at the comment and sighed, resuming her vigil watching the entrances to the club. There had been no unusual movement either in or out, nor had she seen the suspect, Caitlyn sighed again out of frustration and tried to focus on the situation at hand. Her eyes followed an individual in a trench coat walking into the front door, he was wearing a wide brimmed hat and was rather large, she debated internally as to whether that might be their suspect or just the sort of individual who would visit this kind of establishment.

"Okay then, how about Heimerdinger, Teemo and Corki? I'm fairly certain they're men, or males at least..." trailed Vi, who was reaching desperately for some conversation. She was so bored it was unreal, she was a woman of action, happiest when she was fighting someone or involved in a high speed chase. Aside from paperwork, stake outs were definitely the worst part of being a police officer, she did not cope well with doing nothing, or 'observing' as Caitlyn called it, least of all in silence. It was already quarter to midnight and they had been sat stationary for the better part of three hours, she was finding it difficult to stay sane. Caitlyn was doing her utmost to pretend that Vi had not even spoken and did not react to her question, now focusing her binoculars back onto the upstairs window. Vi became somewhat bothered at being ignored and crossed her arms, sinking into her seat and scowling out of the passenger side window.

A devilish idea came to Vi then, and an almost evil smirk grew across her face, she nudged Caitlyn with her shoulder and pleaded "Come on cupcake, I'm just-" but the statement had the desired effect as Caitlyn turned immediately towards her. "I have asked you on multiple occasions not to call me that, I am the sheriff of Piltover and my name is Caitlyn" she hissed through gritted teeth, her eyes ablaze "I do not tolerate nicknames or pet names." Vi was nonplussed by the reaction of her partner, in the short time they had been working together, she always relished getting a passionate reaction from the usually composed and cold Caitlyn. The brunette became more frustrated at the wide smirk that had appeared on Vi's face, she was finding it very difficult to concentrate on the case at hand, due to her partners inability to pay attention and remain focused.

Vi was aware of how frustrated the sheriff was getting, she couldn't help herself though, she needed something fun to get through this excruciatingly boring experience. Through a wide smirk, she queried "How about a compromise? Since I'm getting you all hot and bothered|" she winked at this comment "I promise to stop talking for fifteen minutes if you play one round of snog, marry or kill with me." Azure met dark brown as their eyes locked, Caitlyn rolled hers once again and desperate for a reprieve responded with "Fine." The Piltover enforcer grinned and placed her hand under her chin, tapping her index finger on her lips, searching for the best options. "You are also not allowed to call me cupcake." interjected Caitlyn firmly, interrupting Vi's thought process who frowned slightly but agreed to the terms.

"Okay, now remember you have to pick an option for each person, you can't back out or choose not to answer" Vi warned, as the two stared at each other defiantly, at Caitlyn's nod of agreement she smirked. "Rengar..." Vi began, the sheriff physically cringed at the name and began having flashbacks to when he was summoned on the enemy team. "..Urgot.." continued her partner and a look of disgust came across Caitlyn's face as she stared back in disbelief, "..Me." she finished with a smirk and a waggle of her eyebrows. Caitlyn's face bore a deadpan expression as she raised a finely manicured eyebrow incredulously at the now grinning officer. She decided to get her own back and mimicked an earlier pose of Vi's with her hand under her chin and her fingers tapping her lips, her face a portrait of deep contemplation. Pretending to be pondering she started to make 'hmm' noises, each longer and louder than the last, whilst also toying with her lip.

Although Caitlyn was attempting to bother her partner by being rather irritating and pretending that the choices were difficult, the effect she was having on Vi was a different sort of bother. The enforcer was finding it hard to focus on anything but Caitlyn making throaty noises and playing with her bottom lip, in fact she was becoming quite aroused. Her partner in combating crime was of course, stunning, not to mention the English accent was quite attractive, though Vi was fairly certain that she was unfortunately straight. This did not stop her from stealing glances at her when she sure the brunette wasn't looking, right now however, Vi was fixated on her. Caitlyn glanced over after she felt sure she had prolonged answering the question sufficiently, only to find her passenger looking in her direction with glazed eyes and slightly parted lips.

"Are you okay?" she queried hesitantly, unsure of what had happened for this dazed expression to occur. Vi's face cleared almost immediately and the enforcer coughed awkwardly feeling very embarrassed, Caitlyn was surprised to see a prominent blush appear on the other woman's cheeks. "Yeah, sorry, just a little distracted, you know. It's getting late and we've been concentrating for hours." Vi sputtered out, rubbing the back of her neck and looking anywhere but Caitlyn, who was feeling very confused by the whole situation. The sheriff eyed her partner warily, choosing not to question further and glanced out at the front door, only for her eyes to bulge. Suddenly, Vi felt Caitlyn's hand press against her cheek, pushing their faces close to one another and she felt lips press against her ear. "I'm fairly certain the man at the front door is our suspect, he was looking right at us. I am positive we are parked far enough away that he could not see our faces but I don't want to take any chances" she whispered hurriedly.

All of Vi's senses were currently on meltdown, she could feel not only Caitlyn's hand gently cupping her cheek, but also her lips pressed against her ear and by consequence her rapidly exhaling breathing. Long brunette hair was tickling the right side of her face, almost shielding her from their suspect, Vi found that her voice had escaped her and she was screaming internally from the sheer pleasure of close contact. There was also an uncontrollable throbbing that seemed to overpower everything, it would be a miracle if she could form a coherent thought. Caitlyn felt, rather than saw, Vi tense up, though she incorrectly assumed this was due to their suspect almost sighting them, she exhaled "Vi, I need you to have a quick look and see whether he has stopped looking in our direction, I can't move until he has."

Deep down a small selfish part of Vi did not want them to move from their current position but she quickly glanced across and was satisfied to see a man with blonde hair turning and entering the door. She decided to have a bit of fun and turned to Caitlyn, their faces inches apart and leaned in pressing her lips against the brunettes ear "Yeah he's gone" she whispered. She smirked at how hurriedly Caitlyn pulled away from her "Well why didn't you say that if he was already gone? what was the use of whispering into my ear when he wasn't looking?" she demanded haughtily. Vi was pleased to see that her partner looked as flustered as she had felt earlier, though she thought it was because of embarrassment. In actuality, Caitlyn had felt a rush of excitement course through her body when she had felt the other woman's lips press against her ear and was shocked by it.

She composed herself quickly and began focusing on the task at hand, their suspect was in the building and now they needed to work out how to gain any more information than their intelligence had provided. Caitlyn called back to the station, feeling a draft she rolled her window up and waited for one of the remaining officer's to answer. "Piltover police department, Sheriff's office" droned a tired voice, "It's the sheriff" Caitlyn responded in a clipped voice "The suspect in the arms deal has just entered the location, I am going to evaluate the situation before going any further but I am going to need an arrest warrant. I will call back once I have the necessary details." The voice on the line responded with "No problem, S-Sheriff, I'll prepare one for you", the stutter did it, Caitlyn realised she was talking to the new hire, though she could not remember his name. Immediately hanging up, she grabbed her binoculars once more and peered into the upstairs window, waiting for a glimpse of the blonde male.

Though it was possible to enter the 'Hex' and attempt to subdue the suspect, it would be an incredibly difficult prospect, the club was a front for many illicit means. Prostitution, drugs and increasingly weapons were all found underneath its roof, though it was well covered and proof was near non-existent. Upon entry, most officers found the place deserted, with many of the patrons disappearing through what must be tunnels underneath the building and those under the city. These were of course, impossibly difficult to find and Caitlyn was loath to ask the arrogant Ezreal for any assistance whatsoever, even if he did map them. She would sit here and wait for their suspect to leave, follow him to his home and then send for the arrest warrant.

Caitlyn turned to tell Vi her plan, and was shocked to discover an empty seat. "Vi?" she called out, turning to the back seats and roving her eyes across them, "VI!" she shouted upon finding the rest of the car empty, save the hextech gauntlets haphazardly thrown on the floor. She began to panic, eyes darting across the front of the club only to find her missing partner, talking, no flirting would be a more apt word, with the female security guard. Caitlyn was absolutely aghast, they were supposed to be on a stake out, keeping themselves hidden and watching silently in order to apprehend a suspected criminal about to broker an arms deal with Jinx the murderous psychopath. Vi had one of her arms to the side of the tall blonde security woman who was leaning against a wall. Her other hand was raking through her pink hair, a devastatingly charming smile on her face, from this distance, she could not hear what the two were saying but she could see the security woman giggling.

Spontaneous human combustion is almost certainly an urban legend, however at that moment in time, Caitlyn felt as if she could have burst into flames, like an ignite on low health. She was furious and climbed out of the drivers side door, slammed it shut and stormed over to the entrance to the 'hex' powered by sheer rage. Vi was still engrossed with the security guard, who was by now biting her lip and batting her eyelids, so she was surprised to hear a dangerously low voice shout "What on earth do you think you are doing?!" She turned quickly to face the very threatening form of Caitlyn and attempted her charming smile only to feel it stripped from her face with the white hot intensity of the fury etched upon the sheriff's face. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" Caitlyn almost screamed, she worked very hard to keep her voice down so as to not draw any more attention than they were already receiving.

Vi was flabbergasted, she had never heard Caitlyn swear, like at all, ever. They had been working together for almost three months and not once had the sheriff said anything worse than 'bother', asking the rest of the police department one day when she had been particularly bored, they agreed they had never heard her utter a curse. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise she had a girlfriend" Vi heard from the apologetic security guard who had been forgotten during Caitlyn's appearance. Suddenly she felt a slap sting across the right hand side of her face "How dare you?!" screeched the guard who stormed away into the entrance of the club. Caitlyn was still fuming and pulled Vi by her arm towards their car, berating her as they left, "come on, I can't wait to hear what on earth you thought you were doing, you've ruined the last three nights of hard work, I can't believe you."

"Wait Cait-" Vi attempted to interrupt, though she was still berating her, not ceasing for breath let alone to listen. "Honestly the amount of work that goes into a stake out, especially when you know we can't enter that private property" she continued furiously, "Caitlyn!" Vi attempted once more, this time, the seething sheriff stopped and wheeled around facing her, arms crossed and a thunderous facial expression. "His name is Jacob Exen, the suspect" spoke the apologetic enforcer, looking desperately into the other woman's eyes "I figured it might be worthwhile seeing what the security guard knew. I know that when I was in my gang, I always used a fake name where I lived just in case the police discovered it." Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the exposition and her arms remained crossed, Vi continued "We had a network in place and when the fake name you used was input into the police database, you were alerted and it meant the property you were in was compromised. Your real name would alert you as well but it wasn't tied to the property."

Caitlyn's eyes widened at this comment, if they had followed the suspect to his home and sent for the necessary arrest warrant, it meant he might have been able to escape into the night and slip from their grasp before they could stop him. Her dark brown eyes scanned over the downtrodden form of Vi, a bruise darkening her right cheek, and she winced internally. Vi stated sullenly "I thought she may know something about the guy who just went in, especially if he's a regular and she was hesitant to talk initially, that's why I was charming it out of her." Caitlyn rushed over and hugged the other woman tightly, almost knocking the breath out of her, she hurriedly started "I'm very sorry for being so aggressive earlier, I just thought-" she was cut off by Vi stating "It's okay, it was stupid. It could have went really bad. I'll run it by you next time if I ever feel like doing something that might get me slapped again, okay?" she grinned down at Caitlyn.

The sheriff pulled herself from the other woman and she opened the car door, setting herself down on the seat and waiting for her partner to get in. Vi threw herself in with gusto and grinned at her partner, her eyes sparkled as she regarded the brunette and she gasped. "What?" replied Caitlyn, raising an eyebrow, who had had quite enough of surprises for the evening, thank you very much. "Earlier you never answered my question!" Vi stated in an accusatory tone, Caitlyn responded with her own smirk and stated "as I recall, you did promise to be quiet for fifteen minutes." At this, Vi made the motion for sealing her lips shut and throwing away the key, to which Caitlyn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Fine, based on this evening, I would snog Rengar, marry Urgot and kill you" she teased with a wide smirk and a nudge of her shoulder towards Vi who was looking very depressed by the whole evening and seemed to deflate upon hearing those answers.

Caitlyn stared over at Vi, deciding to cheer her up and reached over in the car, she gingerly grabbed the bruised side of Vi's face and pressed her lips against her left cheek, "I'm only teasing cupcake" she stated sweetly, as she sat back in her seat. Vi who was feeling very subdued until that point, felt her entire body burn reacting to the lips pressed against her cheek, in a very deliberate kiss. That irksome throbbing returned and she petitioned her body to keep under control, perhaps the stake out hadn't been too boring, she thought, unable to keep a foolish grin from erupting on her face as she stared over at the brunette in the driving seat. As they settled into a comfortable silence, the blonde male reappeared at the entrance and after pulling his scarf tighter, headed towards a brand new and very flashy sports car. After stopping momentarily to have a quick scout of his surroundings, he got in and started the engine.

"Finally" sighed Vi, who reached behind her in order to grab her gauntlets, she always felt naked without them, especially on duty. Caitlyn however felt that the purpose of undercover observation might be compromised if a pink haired woman with giant mechanical hands was spotted, there definitely weren't many of those around. Their suspect had just begun to move off, Caitlyn turned with a grin to Vi and queried playfully "Can we at least wait until after the warrant has been obtained before punching or questioning?" Vi grinned back at her and stated confidently "Anything for you cupcake."


	3. Get Jinxed

All she had wanted to do today was to get ice cream, reflected Vi as she dodged a miniature rocket headed towards her. She ducked and it whistled over her head before exploding into the side of an upmarket office building, as she turned to face the damage shards of glass rained down upon her from above. "Fuck!" she exclaimed, holding one of her gauntlets above her head for protection, her eyes scanned fretfully across the scene in front of her. Rubble was strewn across the street and a large truck was tossed onto its side, cargo spilling out, while a fire blazed inside a fashion boutique. Many of the other buildings were so far untouched though this was almost certainly just a matter of time.

"Hey fat hands! Hey you over there, don't ignore me. I'M TALKING TO YOU" a high voice screeched from atop the ablaze boutique where a blue haired girl in pig tails stood not at all bothered by the flames. Jinx was a chaotic psychopath who sincerely enjoyed destruction and devastation, she only wished that she had more weapons today, at this thought she pouted.

She was not prepared for a full on confrontation with the police, but could not have helped herself after sighting both fat hands and hat lady walking down this very street. Jinx became bored and agitated very quickly whenever in hiding and the police in Piltover just didn't appreciate fun, or blowing stuff up. Sighing dreamily at the thought of explosions she imagined the whole city ablaze and her eyes glistened.

Coming back to reality from her daydream, she surveyed the chaos on the street below, smiling a big toothy grin at Vi, or where she had just been. There was no one down there, she gazed suspiciously around peering over the side of the boutique, batting smoke out of her view and pouted at the empty street before whining "where have you gone?"

Her face screwed up in confusion and she begun to hum softly whilst swaying from side to side, hands gripping the edge of the cement roof. Fixated on the ground in front of her, she did not notice anything behind her until she felt a giant hand clasp on her shoulder. "Looks like you're under arrest Jinxy" stated Vi confidently behind her "I hope you resist."

Jinx turned slowly to face the enforcer, trying to drop her shoulder to escape the hextech gauntlet placed there only for the already harsh grip to tighten. Jinx winced "Why are you hurting me fat hands?" jutting out her bottom lip with her eyes glistening with tears. Vi was unmoved by her pitiful act and raised her eyebrow before bringing her face close to the other woman and whispering "because I need to keep you in place. NOW CAITLYN!" she shouted towards a neighbouring apartment building.

Jinx whirled around just in time to hear a familiar whirring noise she absolutely hated, searching for the cause she glimpsed a purple top hat hidden behind a long sniper rifle poking out of a window. "I hate hat lady, she's no fun" moaned Jinx stamping her feet in petulant rage. Anyone with common sense would have referred to the sheriff of Piltover as precisely that or her name Caitlyn, however both of the women on the rooftop preferred their own respective nicknames.

If asked to choose which were more agitating, hat lady or cupcake, it would have been a close call. The sheriff was now ready to unleash her long range attack and did so promptly, she watched the shot keenly and gave a satisfied smile when it landed in the right shoulder of Jinx, causing her to drop the 'zap' gun she had just pulled from behind. Though Caitlyn could not hear any conversation at all from the rooftop, she watched as her partner grabbed Jinx's hands and pulled them behind her back, preparing to place handcuffs on her. Vi quickly looked up at the brunette peering from the window and broke into a huge grin, she was laughing and gave a thumbs up with the gauntlet not preoccupied with holding Jinx.

Caitlyn smiled back, feeling considerably lightened by their capture of the blue haired psychopath who had menaced her city for far too long. She turned away from the window in order to leave the building and join Vi in escorting their quarry back to the station, the paperwork would be immense for the captured fugitive but oh how it would be satisfying.

She was tore from her reverie by an exceptionally loud groaning, she quickly ran back to the window and was horrified to see that the ablaze boutique that her partner and Jinx were stood on was now collapsing. Vi was panicking, her eyes wide as the floor beneath her began to crumble, Jinx however thought this was the funniest thing that had happened all week, she was on the floor literally rolling around in laughter. Vi glanced back up at Caitlyn and gulped as the floor gave way beneath her.

"VI!" screamed Caitlyn, almost throwing herself out of the window as she watched untold tons of rubble and cement collapsing in on her partner. She tore from the window and sprinted through the hallways, most of the tenants had been evacuated from the building when Jinx had begun her attack on the two officers. Fortunately this now meant there were few obstacles between her and the collapsed building, she threw doors open and stormed down the stairs taking three steps at a time.

She called back to the station as she ran, the phone rang until a voice began "Piltov-", "This is the sheriff, an officer is down. I repeat officer down, I need assistance at the corner of Zhom and Tidin right now!" Caitlyn shouted out of breath down the receiver, she ended the call and continued running until she burst through the fire exit.

Initially the bright autumn sun burnt her retinas and she was blinded, shielding her eyes she sprinted over to the remains of the boutique, she was aghast to find it almost completely flattened. She was stunned for a moment, it was difficult to believe that only a few moments ago she was getting ready to congratulate her partner on a job well done, her eyes began to mist and she clenched her jaw.

No, she stated internally, she would find Vi and then decide whether she wanted to weep like a child. She ran over to the rubble, and began lifting broken slabs of concrete, the fire that had pulled the building down left much of the twisted metal strewn amongst the rubble scolding to touch. Caitlyn did not even notice the high temperature or the burns appearing on her hands and fingers, her only focus was in reaching Vi and desperately hoping that she was okay.

Vi just had to be okay, she was so strong and stubborn, it was more likely for her to break a building than to be broken by one. Caitlyn continued moving chunks of cement, so intent on finding her partner that she did not even notice the back up arriving from the station. A strong hand grasped her shoulder and as she whirled around with her rifle, she locked eyes with Jayce.

"You should go and see the medic" he told her, his mouth was drawn into a grim tight line as he surveyed both the situation and the severe looking burns Caitlyn had acquired. The sheriff pretended not to have heard him and turned prior to resuming moving rubble, his voice gently interrupted her task "It was not a request Cait, please go and see the medic, we can take care of it now."

Remaining on her knees, Caitlyn closed her eyes attempting to compose herself, she was drained both physically and mentally, though it had only been fifteen minutes since the collapse. She felt Jayce squatting next to her as he placed a hand on her arm and helped her up, she sighed breathlessly and squeezed his hand to show her appreciation.

The sheriff quickly scanned the area around her, most of the emergency services had answered her distress call, police officers and firemen intermingled in attempting to remove the wreckage that was once an up scale boutique. There were two waiting ambulances also and medical personnel rushed towards her once Jayce called them over, she allowed them to guide her into the ambulance.

Whilst receiving treatment for her burns, Caitlyn began berating herself internally for what had potentially befallen Vi. It was almost certain that the enforcer had to have taken some damage, even her thick head wasn't impervious to concrete. Caitlyn's eyes fell in the ambulance as she started to descend into guilt laden self pity, a thought came to her that stopped her from wallowing.

If their roles had been reversed and it was Caitlyn under the rubble, Vi would still be out there stubbornly searching for her, hauling obscene amounts of concrete and metal determined to find her. If it had been Vi out there when Jayce appeared she was certain that the enforcer would have sooner knocked him out than cease looking, the thought brought a subdued smile to Caitlyn's face.

Ignoring the sounds of protest from the medics she jogged over to where Jayce and the remainder of the police force stood, they were speaking in hushed tones when she arrived. "Have you found her yet?" she demanded, her tone remarkably clipped, as she stared at the other members of the group the atmosphere seemed to change almost immediately. "Have you found her yet?!" Caitlyn repeated, an edge of desperation in her voice, many of the police officers dropped their heads and refused to look her in the eye.

It couldn't be, no not like this, she wheeled around and ran towards the collapsed building "Vi!" she shouted into the autumn evening air, receiving no response. As she drew nearer it became apparent that the bulk of the rubble had already been lifted from where the boutique had once stood, she continued running, vaulting over mounds of broken cement.

She came to a standstill in the middle of a large clearing struggling to understand, she was stood where the building had only half an hour before and all the rubble had been cleared. "If you do not appear in front of me right now I swear to Nasus Vi!" she shouted threateningly at the surrounding buildings, glaring at the windows and crossing her arms furiously. If this was some kind of ploy, similar to Vi hiding underneath the sheriff's desk to scare her then so help her, there would be a hextech gauntlet shoved so far that only that gelatinous green blob would be able to retrieve it.

She turned in the clearing, eyes darting across the surrounding area, she was positive that any moment now the pink haired enforcer would stroll out from behind a building and wink at her exclaiming 'miss me cupcake?' However the clearing remained empty and the only people in the vicinity were the emergency services assembled who were watching Caitlyn threaten the buildings hesitantly.

Comprehension dawned on her as she realised that not only was Vi missing but so was the dangerous psychopath she had been attempting to arrest. She turned to find the defender of tomorrow at her side, he glanced tersely at the surroundings, attempting to pull her in for a comforting embrace. Caitlyn pushed him away, her expression one of intense worry 'Something is wrong Jayce, she should have appeared by now. I have to find her, Jinx is dangerous, what if something bad happens?' Jayce grimaced in response as the two locked eyes, Caitlyn's lips tightened into an unconscious snarl and her eyes narrowed, she would find her partner and she would bring Jinx to justice.

* * *

Vi awoke around the same time Caitlyn had her breakdown in the clearing, she was roused from slumber by a repetitive tapping noise. "Five more minutes..." she mumbled sleepily to no one in particular, her head lolling back and a thin strand of drool dangling from her mouth. She began to moan angry gibberish when the noise did not subside and eventually cracked one of her eyes open in attempt to find the culprit.

Squinting, she saw Jinx rocking back and forth on a stool, leering at her with an insane grin, as well as four chipped cups filled with a brown viscous matter atop a filthy table in between them. She closed her eye again, murmuring "No...don't like this dream.." and proceeded to drift off to sleep again, it was only when her nose began to itch and she attempted to raise her hand to scratch it, that she shot awake.

Struggling to lift her hands and thrashing on the crate she was stuck upon, it became apparent that she was bound to something. Turning her head quickly to double check she was frustrated to see that not only were her hands tied together behind her back, but that they were also attached to a bar in the ventilation grate, with cable ties no less.

Excellent, she thought, turning from the sight of her bound hands she wound up staring once again at Jinx still rocking on her stool. "Hey wanna have some fun? I bet you would. Tea parties are fun, I read a book once, some girl had a tea party, there was a rabbit, there's a dead one over there I could get to join us. If he has a stopwatch I would just die ahahahhahaaha' squealed Jinx excitedly.

The enforcer stared stupefied at the chaotic train of thought from the blue haired woman, who was grinning at her in a painful imitation of a smile. Vi quickly chanced some glances around the room she was located in, dismayed to find no distinctive features, it appeared to be an abandoned factory. This was promising, there were many of those in the Hebit district of Piltover which had once been home to much of the city's manufacturing industry prior to hextechs dominance.

Even though she had an idea of where the factory was located, her heart sank as she remembered the sheer number that remained in deteriorating conditions in the district, there had to be at least eight. It looked increasingly likely that Caitlyn wouldn't be able to help her out of this jam, she resigned herself to coping with the situation come what may until she had an opportunity to get the hell out of here.

Squinting harshly, Vi finally paid attention to the severe headache she had acquired, she winced at the pain. Jinx smirked at her "Oh sorry, I'm not sorry, I was bored so ZapZap made you sleepy time, now we can have fun!" she reeled off at high speed. Vi was becoming adept at understanding the crazy that came from her mouth, she gathered that after Vi had activated her blast shield to protect them from the debris of the collapsed building, Jinx had used her zapper gun to knock her out cold. As to why she had then been dragged to an abandoned factory where a creepy tea party seemed to be taking place, she had no fucking clue.

"Would you like a drink, lady fat hands?" Jinx enquired in a falsetto parody of Caitlyn's accent, reaching over the stained table cloth and holding one of the cups towards Vi's face. The enforcer peeked into the cup and nearly gagged, she was almost certain that it was wet mud. She attempted to manoeuvre herself away from the grim offering though this was difficult considering she was bound in place.

Jinx's eyes narrowed at the movement "Maybe pow pow would like some tea, or, or, a spot of punch in the face!" she giggled, both mocking and gesturing towards what Vi now understood were her weapons, fish bones and pow pow, on stools either side of her around the small table. The enforcers eyes locked on the weapons either side of her and as Jinx began to reach for one, she realised it was smarter to play along with whatever the hell was going on.

"Erm, actually I have had enough tea today" she stated hesitantly, keeping an eye on the woman across from her, when her eye began to twitch and her trigger finger began moving of its own accord Vi added "but thank you for the offer!" with a wide fake grin. Jinx relaxed immediately and smiled back "Was it so hard to be polite Violet?" she spoke gently, eyes unfocused. Unable to help herself Vi gasped audibly and stared dumbstruck into glazed red orbs "how the fuck do you remember my name?" she demanded harshly.

This seemed to break the other woman out of her reverie and she turned to Vi with a smile "Wanna burn this factory to the ground?" her eyes gleaming, Vi stared incredulous, it was almost as if Jinx hadn't heard a word she had just said. "How the fuck do you remember my name?" she repeated, her shout reverberating from the walls, her eyes remained furiously locked on Jinx, who replied with "You're fat hands, I know you from somewhere, maybe from before, gets a bit hazy up there" she motioned to her head and mimicked a gun pointing at her own temple.

* * *

Meanwhile, only a few hundred metres away, Caitlyn crouched in the clearing, examining chunks of broken metal. She had set the emergency response personnel at the collapsed building to task, splitting them, half were organising a manhunt/search party for Jinx and Vi respectively. The other half were in charge of organising a strict civilian curfew, there could be no telling of the destruction that the criminal might cause and Caitlyn would have no more casualties today. She grimaced at the thought of Vi being a casualty and sincerely hoped with all the fibre in her being that the thick headed enforcer was safe and remained so until they could be reunited.

The sheriff had sorely wanted to join the search for the missing women, but she just couldn't, something was amiss and her instinct told her that she needed to investigate further. "How is it that the two of them would even be able to walk after having a building collapse on top of them?..." she pondered to herself aloud, gripping her chin in her hand. She turned to stare at the apartment building she had been in only a few hours before, frowning, the sheriff, turned again to face the now wide gap between the buildings that were once adjacent to the boutique.

She walked behind them into a disused alleyway, her nose crinkled in disgust glancing between the profanity laden graffiti and the litter covering much of the floor. Closing her eyes in order to fully concentrate, she recognised that their disappearance would have had to occur when she was sprinting down the stairwell in the apartment building. She just couldn't understand how they had done so, she groaned and gripped the bridge of her nose, knowing that she was missing something frustrated her to no end.

Behind her, a rustling noise alerted her that she was no longer alone. Wheeling around quickly she raised her rifle to eye height and stared into large brown eyes, belonging to the man with the auspicious title of 'the defender of tomorrow'. "We have to stop meeting like this" he joked with a wide grin, eyes creasing with mirth, she rolled her eyes at him, he just could not help being charming.

Jayce had been at his laboratory for the better part of the day, working on upgrading his hammer with Professor Heimerdinger when he had heard the thunder of the collapsing building. Immediately his heroic instincts compelled him to check the situation was under control, only to find upon arrival the woman opposite him trying desperately to shift rubble.

Though they had been friends for quite some time, Jayce had always held a particular interest in Caitlyn that was not entirely platonic. He could not help himself, she was a striking woman with an intellect to match her looks, the problem he found was that she did not feel the same, or at least did not act in a way to imply any illicit feelings. He dropped subtle hints and was always incredibly polite and respectful, unlike a certain pink haired woman.

Though they were acquaintances it would be a stretch to refer to them as friends, he took issue with how...vulgar the enforcer could be, in particular how frequently she would flirt with Caitlyn. He thought the worst thing about the whole situation was that if anyone else spoke to her the same way that Vi did, they would receive a round to the face, he wondered how she managed to get away with it.

Coming out of his contemplation he realised the sheriff was staring at him impatiently, with her hands on her hips. His vacant face caused her to sigh loudly and repeat "I asked whether you were making a habit of sneaking up on me." Jayce grinned in response, expecting one in return only to receive a wan imitation of a smile from the brunette deep in thought.

Her eyes locked on his and she stated "I am missing something. Obviously they managed to escape the collapse, but how?" her eyebrows creasing in confusion, Jayce answered confidently "Vi has a shield doesn't she?" Caitlyn's eyes shot open, "Of course!" she cried, pressing her palm against her forehead "What an absolute idiot, of course she has a shield, for goodness sake Caitlyn!"

It was entirely possible that Vi had activated her blast shield to protect both herself and Jinx from the falling debris, after that her disappearance could have only meant that Jinx had subdued the enforcer somehow and had taken her hostage. Otherwise there would be clear signs of a fight, like a blood trail leading from the clearing or dismembered limbs. If Jinx had attempted to drag a potentially unconscious Vi somewhere it could not have been far from their location, those gauntlets definitely weighed a few kilograms.

This limited the range but unfortunately not the location she was being kept, there was plenty of dilapidated terraced housing, as well as abandoned factories. Caitlyn stared back at the clearing and recognised that the only way they could have gone was through the alleyway she now stood in, immediately she called back to the police department.

* * *

"What do you mean by from before?" Vi queried hesitantly towards Jinx, who was by now tapping the beats to a nursery rhyme on her thighs, small as they were. Either she did not hear the enforcer or was just pretending that she hadn't but now she started to hum a different song still continuing with the rhythmic tapping of the nursery song.

Vi began to feel unnerved with the increasingly unhinged reactions of Jinx, resigning herself to looking around the factory once again, her eyes landed on a yellowing mattress and a broken television in one corner. It did not surprise her that people would use a place like this to squat and have a somewhat safe sleep, she had stayed in similar places when she was in Zaun, with her gang...with the woman across from her.

Glancing over to Jinx she was surprised to see large red eyes staring back at her, "Before Jinx lost her mind of course" replied the increasingly deranged woman referring to herself in the third person with a grin. "Places like these" she gestured to the surrounding factory walls "remind me of places with you, used to be friends didn't we?" Vi stared back at her listening carefully.

"Why didn't you play with us any more, things happened after you left, bad things. Had to go, Piltover's nice, glad you like it. Would be a shame if anything happened to it" Jinx finished with a wide grin, during her monologue she had sprung up and began to pace erratically, nearly running as she went.

Watching her carefully, Vi recognised that she was becoming excited about something, fairly common to see when they were summoned but not particularly dangerous on the rift, unless you happened to be on the enemy team. Out here however, in the reality of Piltover, it meant she was up to something, the enforcer would have put money on it being explosive. At Vi's lack of reaction to her threat, Jinx pouted once again, sighing "you're no fun!"

"I'd be a lot more fun if I wasn't tied to a fucking grate" Vi exclaimed feeling more confident, if Jinx had wanted to do something besides act insane she would have done it by now. "Maybe if you let me go, I won't break your face" she lied through gritted teeth, to which Jinx tapped her finger on her chin, pretending to be deep in thought and finally answered "nah, liar liar pants on fire."

Vi scowled at the other woman, who was now twirling in the room, dancing with her zapper gun in a bastardised tango for no particular reason. "What am I doing here then? Besides watching you be crazy as fuck" she questioned Jinx, eager for an answer, she honestly had no idea what was going on. Jinx smiled at the gun she was still dancing with and whispered "Just waiting until later, fun things are going to happen" then she smiled at Vi and added "didn't want to be alone for the BOOM."

Incredulous, the enforcer stared at the dancing psychopath and narrowed her eyes "You need to cut it the fuck out" spoke Vi harshly, glaring furiously at the other woman, eyes ablaze "Why don't you just go back to Zaun? Mess with the other lunatics there." To which Jinx turned to Vi and blew her a raspberry, stamping her feet petulantly, "Shan't" she stated crossing her arms "more stuff to blow up here."

"Even if I'm trapped here with you, Caitlyn will stop you. I know she will" stated Vi matter of factly, staring defiantly at Jinx. "I don't think so Mrs fat hands, unless Mrs hat lady can be in two places at once" giggled the blue haired woman, "oh it's going to be explosive!" squealed Jinx clapping her hands together excitedly. Vi flexed her arms trying once again to escape her bonds, unable to do so she growled and spat on the ground in anger.

Jinx seemed to freeze at the sound, halfway through a round of applause for herself, "Tsk Tsk, no manners. What would your mother say? Knock Knock, who's there, Vi's parents, Vi's parents who? Ahahhhhhhhhah" screaming Jinx fell to floor laughing and holding her stomach. Pleased with herself, she continued to laugh deliriously as Vi turned a dark shade of chartreuse.

Anyone sane would have fled from the bound enforcer, her face was contorted with rage, the veins bulged from her neck and she was writhing and growling. Attempting to escape from her bonds only served to drive the cable ties even deeper into her skin. Blood seeped from the restraints on her wrists but she could not get free, not without her gauntlets, which lay underneath the table between them.

Jinx leapt over to where Vi was thrashing and grabbed her face in her hands, lifting it only to find an indignant stare. "You love Piltover don't you? Lovelovelove it" Jinx whispered, their faces so close there were inches between them "do you love some of the people in progress land too? Close to hat lady are we?" At the mention of Caitlyn, Vi began to thrash again, attempting to remove the painful grip on her face only served to make it tighten.

Jinx brought their faces close again and smiled broadly at the bound woman "Hat lady and fat hands sitting in a tree" she sang mockingly before stopping suddenly and grinning once again. "Wanna know a secret?" she whispered to Vi, looking over both her shoulders to make sure nobody in the otherwise empty room was listening in "look down!" she shrieked. Vi did so only to see that the crate she was sat upon had words emblazoned across it 'CAWSHUN FUNWORKX – BOOM! :D'

Vi sighed "Of course its a box of explosives, why wouldn't it be?" she did her best to stay still so as not to set it off prematurely and looked at Jinx, a sour expression on her face. "So where is the other one?" she questioned "earlier you said the sheriff would need to be in two places at once" gesturing to the box she was sat upon she continued "so clearly you have another bomb."

Jinx pulled further from Vi and replied "Well well well, I know something you don't know, do-dah do-dah" singing the latter part, "maybe police, maybe hospital, maybe it's here too! Double explosion!" her hands opened mimicking a firework. "Maybe no bombs today, I can't remember" the blue haired woman shrugged, a confused look upon her face. The enforcer scowled and demanded "Why? What the fuck do you gain?" her eyes followed Jinx as she stood pretending to be thinking staring up at the remnants of the roof. "I want to!" Jinx responded with a manic smile "I like ruining stuff, blowing things up, shooting people in the face, I specially like doing that stuff here! Order is booooring."

Vi glowered, she opened her mouth to call Jinx every swear word she knew until a loud crashing noise came from the left hand side of the building. They both stared in the direction, Vi resumed her struggling, she would not let Jinx get the pleasure of blowing the both of them up. "I don't have all my guns" wailed Jinx stomping around with her head in her hands "I just want to make everyone go BOOM!" she ended with a pout.

"Oh well best be gone" Jinx giggled to herself collecting her weapons she turned to the growling enforcer and grinned "see ya never fat hands, say hi to hat lady for me" with that comment she waved at Vi and skipped over to the exit. "Fuck you Jinx!" the bound woman shouted after her "I liked you when you weren't completely batshit!" Her outburst only caused Jinx to halt halfway out of the exit door, where she turned towards Vi and blew her a kiss before the door slammed shut.

* * *

Caitlyn stormed through the front door of yet another abandoned manufacturing plant, this one was in a particularly sorry state, most of the roof had collapsed and now lay in a mound on the floor. She signalled to the squad of police officers and special operatives behind her to hold for a moment, she pulled the magnifying glass down from her top hat in order to inspect something that was on the floor, it was a smiley face sticker.

"We need to be very careful here" she whispered "if she is here, it is almost certainly a trap, so everyone be. on. your. guard." enunciating the last few words to drive the point home. Eyeing the room warily they proceeded inwards carefully, because of the truly insane nature of the criminal at large, literally anything was possible. For the better part of two hours the small groups had searched within a three mile radius of the collapsed building.

Three miles because Jinx would not have been able to drag Vi much further in the time frame and beyond the radius lay almost exclusively flat ground that would make hiding impossible. Jinx was not the sort to run away without causing a scene so she had to be within this area, with a grim determination Caitlyn continued on through the dilapidated building. She was becoming increasingly concerned that they had not found Vi or Jinx yet, it was only a matter of time, but she was fearful of the state she might discover the two in.

As they headed through the building paying close attention to their surroundings, the sheriff kept her rifle trained ahead of her, she was prepared to deal with their problem once and for all if that's what it took to get her partner back. Up ahead was a door, if one could call it that, the majority of the centre panel was eroded and it lay askew on one hinge within the door frame.

The end of her rifle poked through the hole in the door as she squatted low, the men behind her waited patiently as she peeked into the room. Initially she saw nothing, squinting she peered around the room until in the corner she saw a flash of vibrant pink. Her eyes widened and she signalled to the men behind her to prepare to engage, once they were ready her lips pressed into a tight line, she hoped this was Vi and that if it was, she was okay.

Barging into the room, operatives ran in different directions in order to check their surroundings to make sure the room was safe, fortunately "Clear!" resounded from every corner. Caitlyn ran in the direction she had seen the dash of pink and was met with a cry of "Back up! Don't come close, there's a bomb under me!" She froze in place at both the sound of Vi's voice and the statement it bellowed. "Where is Jinx?" she questioned in reply, only to hear "she left like ten minutes ago, did you not hear me? I said I have a bomb under my ass!"

"Call for a bomb disposal squad immediately" she ordered one of the officers with her who nodded and immediately set about task, Caitlyn then stated firmly "and stay alert." She walked further towards the sound of her partners voice, signalling the men with her to hold back for the time being. Eventually her eyes fell on a distant figure sat atop a crate with unruly pink hair, "Vi!" she called out, their eyes locked as Vi stared back at the brunette. "Hey cupcake, took you long enough" she spoke with a wide grin that didn't quite reach her eyes, "Miss me?" she finished with a wink.

Caitlyn shook her head in amazement at the other woman's relentless attempts to charm her and headed carefully towards her. Though Vi knew it was a hopeless cause to try and convince the stubborn sheriff to change her mind, she desperately tried to do so "turn around cupcake, please? come onnnnn" she whined, sagging against her restraints. If Vi survived this she was going to buy all the cable ties she could and set them on fire, dancing around their charred remains, the thought brought a subdued smile to her face.

"I don't want to lose you cupcake" Vi murmured softly, honesty written all over her face, as she pleaded with her eyes for the brunette to move away from her. Caitlyn stopped a few feet away from Vi, focusing hard on something and staring at the crate Vi was atop, after a few seconds she crossed her arms and smiled at Vi who gazed perplexed back. "Vi, what do bombs usually have that you can't hear right now?" Caitlyn questioned her partner with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.

As the pink haired woman attempted to focus on the sounds within the room, her partner walked over and cut the restraints from her wrist with a flourish. Finally freed, Vi flexed her arms and rolled her wrists, wincing at the deep cuts she had attained earlier, Caitlyn turned over the crate she had been fixed upon only to find it empty with a crudely drawn ':P GOT YA!' underneath. "Oh for crying out loud!" Vi cursed kicking the empty crate and scowled at the exit that Jinx had long left through, convinced that the escaped woman was trying to drive her insane too.

Turning back to Caitlyn, who stood with her hands on her hips and a relieved smile on her face, Vi felt incredibly embarrassed and rubbed a hand on the back of her neck, the other was upturned in an apologetic gesture, "Sorry cupca-" she was cut off by Caitlyn throwing herself into her arms. As she felt the sheriff's arms link behind her head, Vi responded by placing hers on the waist of the brunette, "I don't want to lose you either" whispered Caitlyn into the enforcers ear as their bodies pressed close to one another. Vi felt warmth spreading across her entire body in response to the close contact, she felt it pooling in one particular area and desperately tried not to react.

Suddenly a round of explosions occurred in the sky above them, they sprung apart and the two women stared at one another. "Jinx had another bomb!" cried Vi "she must have been trying to trick us!", to which Caitlyn swore and hefted her rifle in response, they would catch her, she only hoped that the destruction was manageable. Vi had ran off to grab her gauntlets, placing them on with a satisfied smile and began shadow boxing the air. Turning to order the operatives with her to get going, Caitlyn was surprised to find most of them staring into the sky through the missing roof and smiling.

Aghast she stared up with them only to see fireworks streaking across the sky, one of the operatives with her whispered to another "Damn. My family is at the fireworks celebration now, I was worried I might miss it." Realisation hit her full force, it was the beginning of snowdown, annually celebrated in Piltover with a dazzling array of fireworks. Still staring at the spectacle, she felt an arm spread across her shoulders, turning to her left, she found it of course belonged to the enforcer.

"I have no idea what the hell happened today" Vi began with a confused look upon her face "Jinx tried to have a tea party with me and-" she cut herself short at this, Caitlyn did not need to know about any of her past, not yet at least. "She told me there was a bomb beneath me and another one elsewhere, no idea why" she pondered aloud, gripping Caitlyn's shoulder with her hand gently.

"Perhaps" began the sheriff, turning to look at Vi "she has enough enjoyment out of the festivities this evening to give us a welcome reprieve." Vi turned to look up at a particularly loud firework and as Caitlyn watched her partners eyes sparkle and her smile spread and become radiant, she couldn't help but feel a lurch in her chest. 'How odd' she thought, turning her face up to the sky and gazing at the display.

Vi was thoroughly enjoying the explosions, safe explosions that she was not part of, but what she enjoyed more was that she was currently stood there looking at them with her arm around Caitlyn's shoulders. Continuing to stare up into the sky, she nudged Caitlyn softly with her shoulder and questioned playfully "Not bad for our first date eh cupcake?" To which the aforementioned cupcake gave an exaggerated sigh and stated "You are insufferable" with a roll of her eyes, Vi was pleased to note however that Caitlyn did not remove her arm and instead leaned against her closer.

Content to enjoy a moments peace, the both of them stared at the display until the sheriff became all business again. "Right, Jinx can't have gotten too far" she stated to Vi before pulling away and turning to the operatives, "call in the other groups and get them to rendezvous at this location. We can split from here and search, it is likely that she is distracted by the fireworks and enjoying the explosions. Lets see whether we can use the element of surprise."

With the officers at task, Caitlyn turned to Vi only to find a wide smirk on her face, the enforcer leaned in and whispered into her ear "I love it when you talk business." Caitlyn batted her away and shook her head, a slight blush appearing on her cheek "For goodness sake, maybe when we find Jinx I can see whether she wants to take you back" she cried with mock seriousness.

Vi's face fell and she attempted her patented puppy dog eyes, lip quivering she murmured "do you really mean that cupcake?" Vi was not playing fair. She knew Caitlyn could not resist those eyes, the brunette sighed loudly and narrowed her eyes at Vi, exclaiming "If I say I don't mean it, will you focus on the task at hand instead of attempting to flirt?" A lone chuckle rose from the group of operatives, Caitlyn wheeled around to face them and raised an eyebrow, her expression was deadly "Why don't you wait outside for the other groups, hmm?" she demanded haughtily.

Once the room had been cleared apart from the two women, Caitlyn sighed once again and crossed her arms, glaring at Vi "Look Vi, I know that we are partners and I allow you more than enough wiggle room in regards to your questionable behaviours. However I need to ask you not to speak to me that way in front of other officers, I need you to treat me with respect." Vi gazed back at Caitlyn, she had no idea how much she had offended the sheriff and replied with a short "Fuck 'em."

At Caitlyn's exasperated expression, Vi continued "No seriously fuck them. I am who I am, I can't help that. I flirt constantly, I'm rough around the edges and I really enjoy punching things. I do respect you Caitlyn, you gave me this chance and now I have a purpose. I just, it's weird having friends ya'know, I don't really know how else to speak to you, or anyone really." Vi had begun to pace during her statement and her face bore a stressed expression, she turned then to face Caitlyn and tried an apologetic smile before her eyes dropped to the floor.

The brunette had been stood with her arms crossed, upon realising just how honest her partner was being, she walked over to Vi and placed her hand upon her shoulder, entreating her to look up. "I am sorry for being so harsh Vi, I just, respect is a big thing for me. I don't want you to change who you are, I would just like you to be a bit more professional when we are working."

Vi turned towards the sheriff and grinned "Okay, I think I can do that. I will be more professional at work, out of work however" at this she wiggled her eyebrows, Caitlyn rolled her eyes once again and cut her off "out of work, I have no control over your behaviour, you are free to do as you please, within reason of course." A smirk arose on Vi's face and her eyes gleamed as she queried "does that mean I can charm you all I like?" to which Caitlyn smirked herself and chuckled "it means you are free to try."

"Sheriff, Jayce and the other operatives are here" interjected one of Caitlyn's officers at the door, interrupting their defiant staring contest, "thank you, we will be right out" stated Caitlyn politely, still staring at her partner whose face had dropped at the name Jayce. "Not that drip, please don't make me work with him, he's such a goodie goodie" pleaded Vi, she fell to her knees, mechanical hands clasped together in front of her in mock prayer.

"Vi you are such an actress I swear, besides Jayce is a nice person, I'm sure you will behave yourself this evening working alongside him" Caitlyn spoke assuredly, arms crossed and her eyes narrowed, threatening Vi to behave any other way. The enforcer remained on her knees, contemplating the warning until she spoke "fine, I will behave myself around drippy" Caitlyn's eyes narrowed at the derogatory nickname, Vi pretended not to notice and continued "on one condition." The brunette raised both her eyebrows and waited for the condition, "I get to take you out for a drink later?" finished Vi with a cheeky grin.

The sheriff did not react in any way but to raise one of her eyebrows incredulously, Vi's eyes glistened and she brought her hands back up to mimic prayer, entreating any gods that existed to get the woman across from her to agree. Finally Caitlyn grinned "Sure why not? I could certainly use a drink after today", Vi pumped her gauntlet upwards and flew into the air following it "Yes!" she shouted.

"First we have to find Jinx" reminded Caitlyn, who couldn't help laughing at the exaggerated theatrics of her partner, Vi punched one of her gauntlets into the other which was held open, a beaming smile lay on her face, she ran towards the door and shouted over her shoulder "then let's go catch us a crazy, cupcake!" Caitlyn chuckled at the comment and headed towards the pink haired woman waiting in the doorway with a grin, exclaiming "Yes let's."


	4. Charmed

Hey guys, authors note here. Just wanted to say thank you for reading and hopefully enjoying this collection of stories. I was toying with possibly adding some lemon into it, but I will probably just make another story for that, keep this one T. Honestly, it really does mean a lot that I have double the views as I do visitors because clearly people are rereading my work which is fantastic. Thank you for over 1000 views, it is kind of amazing. Feel free to leave a review or favourite or follow, they would be very much appreciated! Enjoy x

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Closing her eyes in order to concentrate on not murdering the pink haired buffoon next to her, Caitlyn supposed that her current spate of troubles had occurred following their last match on the rift. It had been a resounding victory, as was often the case when Piltover's finest found themselves on the same team, however, her partners behaviour had became increasingly strange following the fall of the enemy nexus. Truth be told, Vi was acting like a woman obsessed, and it was bothering Caitlyn, who scowled at the thought and bit into her cupcake with unwarranted viciousness.

"Don't you think she is beautiful?" sighed Vi dreamily, staring unfocused into the sky, to which Caitlyn responded by scoffing and continuing to drink her tea. They were sat in the Piltover park, a place they often frequented considering it lay only a short walk from the police station. Sat on a bench, the two made a strange sight, Vi with her mechanical gauntlets pressed against her cheeks, elbows resting on her knees with a vacant smile on her face. Juxtaposed against her partners relaxed and dreamy posture, Caitlyn was sat with her back straight and her legs crossed tightly, clenching her tea cup so fiercely that her knuckles were white.

Vi sighed once again, a wide smile on her face, it appeared as if she was unaware of anything around her, so focused on whatever she was fantasising about, "Really though, she is so amazing, I wonder if she knows who I am?" pondered the enforcer. The woman next to her gritted her teeth and stated scathingly "you spent the better part of our match smashing her face into the ground, I am positive she knows who you are." Vi looked up startled "Oh Caitlyn when did you get here?" she was blissfully unaware of the ablaze brown eyes that had locked furiously onto her face at that comment, instead placing her gauntlets behind her head deep in thought.

The sheriff stared flabbergasted at the woman next to her, eyes narrowed in disbelief at the nonchalant manner in which Vi had disregarded her very presence. "Are you quite finished yet?" began Caitlyn in a dangerously low voice "we are supposed to be enjoying a pleasant lunch break together after a very busy morning prior to finishing the paperwork awaiting in the office. I dare say I am sick of speaking about her." Looking as if she had been electrocuted, Vi jumped up and wheeled on the now visibly shocked brunette "you're right, I should go to her" at this she patted Caitlyn on the shoulder and smiled broadly "thanks Caitlyn" before she ran sprinting from the bench.

"I didn't say anything remotely like that!" screamed the sheriff, who had stood up from the bench and stared after the enforcer with her hands on her hips. Watching perplexed as Vi tripped over a lone branch before leaping into the air ecstatic, Caitlyn sighed and grabbed her face in her hands. With her partner acting this completely insane there was no way she could leave her unattended, especially considering Vi had only just completed her probationary period on the force. A small growl escaped her and she quickly shouted "Vi, get back here right now!" when this had no reaction from the fool, who was by now running past a water fountain, she begrudgingly added "I promise to help you!" Vi appeared by her side as if by magic, a huge grin on her face before gleefully exclaiming "I knew you'd be there for me Cait."

Though Caitlyn would never have admitted it, she was slightly annoyed by the fact that Vi was using her real name and had been doing so since they had returned from the rift. Not that she enjoyed being called cupcake of course but it was irksome, and further proof that clearly something was wrong with her partner. "So what's the plan?" questioned Vi excitably, almost bouncing on the spot, to which the sheriff responded "follow me." Caitlyn stormed away from the park, seething internally, Vi followed giddily with a glazed look in her eyes.

* * *

"You lied to me!" cried Vi indignantly as the two of them arrived at the police station, the sheriff pretended not to notice her partners outburst and simply grabbed Vi's arm before pulling her through the front doors. "Why'd you lie to me? The love of my life is waiting for me" at this Vi gazed longingly out of the doors, Caitlyn jerked her towards the elevators a severe expression on her face. As they ascended in the elevator, Vi turned to the frustrated sheriff and pouted, before murmuring "I thought you said you'd help me", Caitlyn knew better than to look at the enforcer and her puppy dog eyes and continued staring straight ahead.

Once the doors opened onto the main office Caitlyn continued dragging Vi, storming past the cubicles, there was a wolf whistle and a call of "uh-oh someone's in trouble" that she chose to ignore for the time being at least. When they had entered the sheriff's office, Caitlyn locked the door and pulled the blinds down on the windows, ensuring privacy before facing the other woman with her arms crossed. "Vi, what the fuck is wrong with you?" the brunette nearly screamed, throwing her arms up in the air and pacing before crying "void take me now, I have no clue what is happening, now tell me, why are you obsessed with Ahri!?"

At the mention of the nine-tailed fox's name, a huge smile erupted on Vi's face and she sighed "isn't she wonderful" before placing her hand over her heart and continuing "why wouldn't I fall for her?" The sheriff was aghast at the sickening reactions of her partner, if this was truly what Vi was like in love then void help her, she stormed over to Vi before grabbing her collar and bringing their faces close. "You are hopeless" she snarled at the still dreamily vacant woman before exclaiming "we have a sheer mountain of paperwork to finish as per our bloody jobs! Snap out of it!"

"Caitlyn please don't be jealous, you should be happy for me and Ahri" spoke the enforcer defiantly, crossing her arms and turning to face the locked door. This meant she did not see the aforementioned woman turn a dark shade of red, before furiously storming over to her cabinet and taking out a bottle of Freljord Ironspike vodka. Slamming it onto the table, Caitlyn pulled out a shot glass from her draw and filled the thing, she downed it in one gulp before refilling and consuming another. Caitlyn did not even know it was possible to be this angry, she could feel her entire body burning with rage and indignation as she stood facing Vi with her arms leaning on her desk.

"I am not jealous" she exclaimed furiously, enunciating every word to drive the point home, Vi did not even turn before refuting "are too." Caitlyn was sure that one of her blood vessels had just popped, as the veins stood out in her neck and her face bore a terrifying rictus, surely Vi had not always been this infuriating. When all Vi heard was a sputtering noise in response to her childish comment, she looked over her shoulder at the sheriff before sorely wishing she hadn't.

Suddenly Vi was turned against her will and pressed with her back against the door by the much smaller woman, who seemed to be overtaken by complete rage. Caitlyn was forcing her gauntlets above her head and brought her own face inches from Vi's, this close the enforcer was able to smell the faint alcohol on her breath. "I am not jealous Vi. I am concerned about my partner!" she whispered harshly, though she knew that Vi could break free with her strength if not her gauntlets, it appeared the enforcer was shocked by the abruptness of her assault.

Eyes wide, Vi regarded the enraged brunette before her warily, all she had wanted to do was to be with her beloved, the enchanting fox, and now she was being harassed by her boss. Deep down she knew that Caitlyn was looking out for her, but something was muddled in her brain and all she wanted was to find Ahri and be with her. When a dazed smile spread across Vi's face once again, Caitlyn pressed their foreheads against one another and groaned loudly.

Pulling away from her clearly mentally damaged friend, she stormed over to her office phone and hurriedly dialled a number that might just be able to save her sanity. As the phone was ringing, she glanced over at the woman slumped to the ground with a silly grin on her face "honestly!" Caitlyn shouted over at Vi, who did not react at all. After what seemed an age, a chipper voice answered finally on the line with "salutations sheriff!" Caitlyn stared at her partner again before stating in all seriousness, "Professor I need help, something is wrong with Vi. I think she might be broken."

* * *

"Hmm...as far as I can deduce, the reactions of your friend are attributed to one particularly heinous cause" narrated the revered inventor as he examined Vi, who was strapped, wide eyed, into a large chair with sadistic looking wrist restraints. Heimerdinger pulled his goggles above his eyes and sighed loudly, before staring up into Vi's vacantly beaming face and shaking his head sorrowfully. Caitlyn was beside herself, having waited an already excruciating length of time during her walk to the professors laboratory, if by walk, one meant dragging a reluctant Vi along the busy streets.

When all the professor did was look at Caitlyn and sigh sorrowfully once again, shaking his head, she almost screamed at the infuriating yordle. "What's the matter with her?" she exclaimed fearfully, glancing between the serious face of Heimerdinger with his brows furrowed and Vi's stupefied grin that had once again crept upon her face. "I'm afraid that she is in a dire situation" the inventor began almost lecturing, noticing that the sheriff was gritting her teeth and about ready to shoot him in the face, he hurriedly added "the results were inconclusive, but it would appear that your partner is infatuated."

Caitlyn stared open mouthed at the mustached yordle's conclusion, before stating indignantly "well obviously" and gesturing over to the pink haired woman sat vacantly surveying the two of them. She continued with her hands on her hips and a raised eyebrow "my question to you is what on earth has brought it on, she certainly wasn't like this this morning." Vi raised her voice to interject "Um, I am sat right here you know, I can totally hear you", Caitlyn shushed the indignant enforcer and waved the comment away.

"From what I've observed, infatuation can occur almost immediately, I believe the term is love at first sight?" Heimerdinger responded, he was prodding Vi's mid section with a wrench, which earned him a loud "hey get off me!" and a frosty glare from the enforcer. Though Vi respected the intelligent yordle in Piltover for his hextechnical prowess, a rather loud part of her always cried for vengeance at all of the failed ganks he had caused her to participate in when they were summoned on opposing teams.

Narrowing her eyes, the sheriff spoke in a threateningly low voice "I am quite positive that is not the case professor", the small creature shrugged and wiggled his rather large eyebrows in response to her icy tone. "I don't know quite what you want me to suggest sheriff, I have ran the necessary tests and there is nothing physiologically wrong with your friend here. For all intents and purposes it would appear that she is simply enamoured with someone quite special." Heimerdinger spoke cheerily and meandered over towards Vi in order to release the wrist restraints during his monologue, much to Caitlyn's chagrin.

Vi almost jumped from the chair and immediately began to place her gauntlets back on with a grin. The revered inventor smiled up at the much taller woman and enquired jovially "so who is the lovely young lady that has so captured your attention?" A wide grin broke upon Vi's face and her eyes narrowed in triumph as she grabbed Heimerdinger's shoulders and shook him excitedly whilst exclaiming "she is gorgeous Heimer, her eyes are like the perfect shade of orange and she's so fierce ya'know."

Caitlyn was now thoroughly irritated, she could not believe that this was normal behaviour for her partner. Nor was she content to just accept that Vi had fallen for 'someone special' in Ahri, the two of them barely knew each other, only meeting occasionally on the rift. Unless Vi had been lying about her whereabouts and meeting in private than the sheriff really could not fathom how her partner had become so charmed by the nine tailed fox. What bothered her most of all was that the whole situation was really making her quite jealous, though she would certainly not have admitted that to the one meter tall professor. Glancing at the shaken yordle, currently still being man handled by Vi as she continued her speech on the virtues of Ahri, she caught his eyes and was almost certain from the knowing look he gave that he knew anyway.

'Thanks for giving me the all clear pops' stated Vi happily before stage whispering behind her hand 'I think Cait is a just a wee bit jealous' and pointing a finger towards her fuming partner stood with arms crossed. Perking up the tanky enforcer bound over to the door and quickly waved before disappearing through it with an echoing 'wish me luck!' 'Wait Vi!...' Caitlyn attempted to call after her, recognising it to be futile she shook her head and stared angrily at a speck of dirt on the otherwise clean laboratory floor. That was almost certainly Vi, that frustrating woman had no care for cleanliness or even basic manners, she just had no concern for other people, least of all herself, imagine not telling your best friend that you had fallen for some woman you didn't even know very well.

"Are you quite alright sheriff?" queried an unsure voice, tearing Caitlyn from her internal grumbling. She turned towards the professor, who was staring at her with what she assumed was a sympathetic gaze, had his goggles not been obscuring the vast majority of his face. Sighing she stated "yes, I am fine, thank you. I have a lot of paperwork to finish at the station, just not particularly excited about the prospect" she proceeded to take her rather large hat off and run her fingers through her hair, sighing loudly before pacing. "Especially not with Vi running off on some mad crusade to tell Ahri how she apparently adores her" began Caitlyn with a sour tone, narrowing her eyes and continuing "so basically my partner has lost what little mind she did have and now I'm doing double the work. Again."

"Hold on! What was that you said a moment ago?" shouted Heimerdinger hurriedly, waddling over at speed to the sheriff, who glanced at him surprised. "I'm doing double the work...?" she reiterated hesitantly, staring questioningly at the wide eyed yordle, who shook his head violently in response. "No prior to that statement, did you say Ahri?" questioned the professor whose voice had risen an octave higher than usual and a look of sheer panic had seized his face. Caitlyn stared back in confusion and nodded, to which Heimerdinger shook his head once more and grasped his hair fearfully before crying "Oh blast! No this isn't good."

The sheriff gripped his shoulders in order to still him and brought her face down to his before asking "what isn't good?" The professor closed his eyes in an attempt to concentrate and queried "are you familiar with Ahri?" at Caitlyn's shake of her head he continued whilst pacing "I have been matched against her many times, back when I was a 'viable' champion, I'm still viable just so you know, I just don't seem to be summoned as frequently as I once was...anyway" he shook the thought away. Then began wagging his finger at the air and spoke again "one of her strongest techniques is called 'charm' and using it causes an opponent to move towards her heedless of threat, usually at great cost to the charmed individual."

The sheriff paused in order to digest this new information and met it initially with a smug grin, of course Vi's affections had been caused by magic, she had known something was wrong. Processing the thought however she bore a confused stare "but wait..." she pondered "isn't that only possible on summoner's rift? Surely the charm shouldn't last beyond the match?..." Heimerdinger nodded furiously and replied "Yes it shouldn't, but if it has it would certainly explain a lot, magic doesn't leave a residue in a lot of cases so it is very hard to check for."

Caitlyn chewed her lip, eyebrows furrowed with worry as she contemplated her next move, clearly Vi was possessed by some strong magic and would be sure to seek out Ahri, hopefully they could find her first before she made an even bigger fool out of herself. Turning to the tiny professor she asked with a grin, "would you accompany me to the institute of war, professor?" to which the rather furry yordle smiled and nodded in response.

* * *

It was particularly obvious to Caitlyn that Vi was here, or had been at least, there were flower beds torn from their roots, evidenced by the rapidly decaying rose corpses littered across the pavement. Not only that but the confectionery shop, primarily for sweet toothed yordles, was missing a decent chunk of one of their walls, surveying the situation the sheriff shook her head and sighed loudly. "Not one for subtlety is she?" joked the professor, who chuckled at the sight of a shop keeper poking their head through the hole in the wall absolutely confused.

The sheriff stormed into the summoner's institute, arriving in the main foyer where the cheery receptionist greeted all who entered. Caitlyn had never minded Jocelyn, finding her a touch vacant and bimboesque, that is until she had came to the institute with Vi. Narrowing her eyes at the memory, she remembered how Vi had fawned over the blonde giggling receptionist, cracking out her best charming grin and flexing her arms. The pink haired enforcer could be such a lech, honestly.

"Good afternoon sheriff, professor" she smiled amicably at the two, albeit aware of Caitlyn's tense posture and enquired "can I help you?" Getting straight to the point, Caitlyn placed both her hands on the welcome desk and leaned over the beaming receptionist, a perfect imitation of her interrogation technique. "Have you seen Vi at all?" she questioned, her voice clipped, Jocelyn raised an eyebrow at the tone and responded airily "Maybe...why? is she in trouble?" The sheriff bristled internally but smiled politely in response before stating through gritted teeth "no, I would just like to know whether you have seen my partner."

Heimerdinger observed the strained exchange with curiosity, glancing between the two women as they faced one another with clearly fake smiles. He had just opened his mouth to remind Caitlyn that time was short when a high pitched giggle he was all too familiar with suddenly interrupted his thought process. All three turned in the direction of the giggle only to find Vi and Ahri walking through a set of doors leading from the residential quarters. Vi was positively beaming, walking with a grin on her face alongside the enchanting fox, who covered her mouth with her hands and continued giggling at whatever had been previously said.

How dare she? Thought Caitlyn fiercely, not only had Ahri enchanted Vi to fall for her, for goodness knows what reason, but now she saw fit to flaunt her around the institute like a love sick puppy. Her teeth ground together and her hands balled up into fists as she stormed over to the two of them, before she could call Ahri every name under the sun however, the aforementioned woman turned to face Caitlyn with a grin.

"Hello...Caitlyn, is it?" queried Ahri with a charming smile and wide eyes, the sheriff narrowed her own dark eyes into slits and replied with a tense question of her own "yes it is. Could you perhaps tell me why you have charmed my friend here into acting like a complete lovesick fool?" Ahri's tails swished hesitantly though her smile remained fixed, she regarded the very frustrated sheriff with a cool stare however her eyes were crinkled with mirth.

Vi barged in between the two women, staring angrily at Caitlyn and crossing her arms before exclaiming "come on now, there is enough of me for the both of you." She glanced threateningly between the two women until her face broke into a huge grin, leaning in to whisper into Caitlyn's ear "I'm not charmed any more cupcake." The sheriff turned her face quickly towards Vi's out of shock, to both the statement and the use of her nickname once again, only to feel the enforcer's nose pressed against her own.

She had not been aware of just how close Vi was to her when she turned suddenly, silence was truly deafening, all Caitlyn could hear was the thudding of her heart as its pace quickened and the rush of blood that accompanied a not unwelcome burning sensation throughout her body. She found herself unable to move or even summon a coherent thought as her brain went into meltdown, amber met azure as their eyes locked. Vi wondered how to react as her quite attractive partner was suddenly mere inches away and it appeared as if the sheriff had frozen with her mouth agape. The enforcer's eyes widened as she was almost positive that Caitlyn was bringing her face even closer if that were possible, soon she would be close enough that their lips would certainly have to-

"Ahem" a dainty cough intruded upon their momentary silence, leading Caitlyn to recoil hurriedly away from the stupefied enforcer, a fervent blush spreading across her cheeks. "Vi came to me earlier with chocolates and roses, which was a very sweet gesture on her part" Ahri favoured Vi with a smile while continuing her monologue, Vi for her part was still a little shell shocked from the close encounter but gave a shy smile in response. "I was surprised by the romantic gesture, even more so because I did not charm her."

The sheriff made an indignant sound of protest to which Ahri continued speaking "I didn't charm her, but it was my charm. Which I thought was rather strange, I spoke to the summoner's and it transpires that it was somewhat of a glitch. Just before our nexus fell this morning, I used my charm on Vi in an attempt to stop her from killing our jungler once again and it was still active when the match ended."

"Well then, how did you manage to remove the curse?" enquired the long forgotten yordle within the group, who glared at Ahri suspiciously, she turned to him with her tails bristling and replied coldly "I wasn't aware that being charmed by me was a curse, professor." Heimerdinger chose to ignore the way she had spat out his title as if it were an insult and stated matter of factly "having your self control removed and being controlled like a puppet is indeed a curse, one you are quite proficient in casting."

The sheriff watched anxiously as electricity seemed to crackle around the nine tailed fox, whose mouth had contorted into a snarl and orbs of energy appeared in her hands. Heimerdinger stood unfazed by the anger he had unleashed and remained still, pausing only to place a small turret on the ground. A strained silence followed as the two stood facing one another until finally a chuckle escaped the yordle "oh but I do loathe your charm, it's so frustrating in match ups." Ahri responded by staring incredulously at him before dissipating her orbs and laughing at the comment, replying "not nearly as frustrating as your turrets."

Piltover's finest watched as the two began bickering amicably, before Ahri seemed to remember his earlier question and answered with a sly shrug "I don't know how they managed to remove the charm, it would appear they have though." With that comment, the half fox winked at Caitlyn knowingly and giggled at the affronted glare she received from the brunette. "Would you like to discuss tactics? We could also get something to eat?" posed the bespectacled yordle to a genuinely surprised Ahri, who raised an eyebrow at him before replying with a smile "why not?"

Heimerdinger nodded at her response and began to meander towards the cafeteria, Caitlyn called a genuine "thank you for helping professor" after him, and he turned around beaming. The nine tailed fox coyly glanced at the sheriff before leaning in to peck Vi on the cheek and murmuring "thank you for the gifts." Ahri then strode towards the waiting yordle and they began conversing at great length about the changing role of mages. Vi was somewhat stunned by the kiss and stared after the enchantress, which meant she did not observe the thunderous expression on Caitlyn's face, nor the icy stare that followed Ahri as she left the room.

The enforcer rubbed the back of her neck unconsciously, as she often did when she felt embarrassed and shrugged apologetically at Caitlyn, who smiled at the familiar gesture. "Sorry cupcake, guess I haven't really been myself, can't say it's my fault though" Vi stated grinning at the brunette, who grinned back replying "I'm just glad you are back to normal, you were at least five times more frustrating than you usually are." Vi placed a giant gauntlet over her heart and threw her head back exclaiming "ow cupcake, ow", she cracked one eye open and peeked a glance at the sheriff who stood with her arms crossed.

When all Caitlyn did was raise an eyebrow at her theatrics and tease "don't worry, I've got something special in the office for you", the pink haired woman pouted prior to exclaiming "I've been under a spell all day, please don't make me do paperwork!" Vi dropped to her knees and begun pleading with her gauntlets raised in mock prayer, fast becoming a staple move of hers in order to get out of something.

The sheriff couldn't help the smirk that broke onto her face, she leaned in towards Vi and whispered into her ear "who said anything about paperwork" before pulling away and striding towards the entrance. A satisfied smile erupted as she heard the scramble of Vi jumping to her feet and running after her calling out "hey it's not the fuzzy cuffs is it?" Caitlyn turned to face her, noting smugly that Jocelyn was watching from the reception desk with a scowl and replied "I suppose you will just have to find out won't you?" finishing the statement with a wink.


	5. Black Pearl

Hey guys, just wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone that has read my work so far, it is all chronological so the tension is building in good time aha. I want to say a special thank you to the people who favourite and follow this story, it means a lot to me that people not only enjoy it but are excited about the next chapter. To my reviewers, you guys are freaking awesome, I appreciate every comment and you help to inflate my already massive ego so thank you from the bottom of my heart. Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter and let me know what you think might be happening in part two. Mainly because I haven't written it yet aha.

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 **Part One**

The office was silent except for the frenzied scratching that was the sheriff attempting to finish her latest lieu of paperwork, preferably before they closed up shop for the week. Due to Piltover's unusually low crime rate, it was possible for the police department to run on a skeleton crew over the festive period. Caitlyn was hunched over, almost pressing her nose to the desk in front of her, her eyes narrowed in triumph as she completed the last sheet letting out a satisfied sigh. Placing an errant strand of hair behind her ear, she chewed her lip and smiled widely, she loved this time of year, and had booked the time off months ago. Fortunately she had done the same for Vi, otherwise she dared say the pink haired enforcer would have been working without her, up to her knees in deep snow.

Caitlyn glanced up from the desk for what felt like the first time in hours, only to find her partner sat with gauntlets placed behind her head staring out of the large window that made up one of the walls in the office. The sheriff crinkled her nose in distaste as she noted that Vi had her feet on top of her desk, honestly it must have been the seventh time this week she had asked her not to put her feet all over the desk. Opening her mouth in order to give the enforcer a piece of her mind, she caught the melancholy look on Vi's face and ceased immediately. Vi was staring out of the window with her eyebrows furrowed in what looked like worry, not only that but her mouth was drawn into a tight line with her jaw clenched.

"Are you quite alright?" queried the sheriff hesitantly, a worried frown affixed onto her face as she regarded her obviously troubled friend. Vi's expression lifted immediately in response to the question and her posture relaxed instantly, before she turned grinning at the brunette. "Yeah no worries, just excited to spend some time to myself" spoke the enforcer hurriedly, "oh really?" replied Caitlyn who raised an eyebrow at the strange behaviour change, noting it for future reference. "Yeah I mean, I need to catch up with the guys at the pub, then I've really gotta hit the gym with Kata otherwise I'll wake up with a knife pressed against my throat and I really need my beauty sleep."

Narrowing her eyes at the description of the noxian assassin just appearing in Vi's room, Caitlyn sniffed daintily as a show of disdain. She had never particularly liked Katarina, either on the rift or out of it, finding her to be uncouth, brash and prone to violence. Of course the same things could easily be said about Vi, indeed she had heard harsher statements about the enforcer from some of the Piltover aristocracy, including many of the statesmen who frequently visited her parents manor. Clenching her jaw at the memory of the last function she had attended at the Buxton estate, she was interrupted by a chuckle and a statement of "sorry, forgot you don't like Katarina, she offends your 'sensibilities.'"

The last word had been uttered by Vi in a nasal parody of the uptown accent, at which the sheriff turned to her with a furious stare. "That is not the case and you know it, I just find her to be a bad influence on you" stated Caitlyn haughtily, crossing her arms defiantly at the now grinning enforcer. Vi finally brought her feet down from the desk with a loud thump and smashed her gauntlets onto the desk, smirking she stated "jealousy looks good on you cupcake" and finishing with a wink. The aforementioned cupcake rolled her eyes at the comment and harrumphed indignantly, before changing the subject far from issues of jealousy.

"So have you got any plans for snowdown solstice day?" questioned Caitlyn amicably, ignoring the way Vi's grin had grew even larger at the change in conversation. "Eh, I'm booked solid, first I'm gonna sleep in until five, then I'm going to head over to the Blue Flame" replied the enforcer with a casual stretch, placing her hands back behind her head, apparently very relaxed about the thought of drinking all day at the Bilgewater pub located in the seediest district in Piltover. Caitlyn giggled at the statement, her eyes creasing with mirth, until she caught the confused expression on Vi's face. They stared at one another for a few tense seconds until the sheriff pondered "wait, you're not serious are you?"

The idea that Vi would be spending her solstice day either drunk or asleep was deeply offensive, snowdown was Caitlyn's favourite holiday and it was for spending time with those you love. She eyed the enforcer, whose face had fallen following her remark, and felt a pang deep within her chest as she recognised that possibly Vi didn't have anything better to do on the day or even anyone to spend it with. Caitlyn felt her eyebrows furrow of their own accord as she stared at the forlorn looking woman, who was now scowling at the sheriff's expression. "I don't need your pity" Vi spat out angrily, she pushed heavily from the desk, sending her chair smashing into the wall, she then stormed towards the door and paused only to murmur "happy holidays cupcake" before punching it open and disappearing through it.

Caitlyn stared aghast at the door now swinging on one hinge and the enraged woman who had just stormed through it. She was shocked by the behaviour of her partner and deeply concerned as to what had caused it, though Vi was prone to aggression, it had never been directed towards herself. The sheriff grasped her head in her hands and sighed loudly, she knew that she had really hurt Vi with that unconscious pitiful glance, the enforcer was not exactly proud of her childhood, or much of her life before Piltover but she would not tolerate being pitied.

"For goodness sake Caitlyn" she whispered to herself harshly, before glancing out of the window and watching a solitary snowflake descend lazily towards the ground. She would have to make things right with Vi, before the start of the holidays, and the inevitable snow storm it would bring. Finishing the tea that had sat stationary on her desk for the majority of the day, cold tea never bothered her, she grabbed her coat and rifle before heading out towards the district of Arant, where Vi happened to reside. It was also the location of the blue flame, her favoured haunt for drinking. Debating which she should visit first, she decided on heading to her apartment, in this weather it was more likely Vi would head home. Side stepping the now broken door, the sheriff buttoned her coat up and headed out with a grim smile, she could not have gotten too far ahead.

* * *

Scowling into her glass of black pearl rum, Vi slumped over the particularly sticky bar, one of her gauntlets clenching the drink tightly. Mechanical fingers pressed hard against her temple as she sighed loudly and downed her beverage, calling the barkeep over for a refill hastily. Closing her eyes in order to concentrate on the earlier events, the fingers at her temple curled into a fist and she growled, unaware that the glass within her hand had shattered. "I swear Vi, I'm not going to have any glasses left if you keep breaking them" scolded the woman behind the bar, albeit in an affectionate manner, the enforcer glared up at the intrusion but there was no real malice in her eyes.

Tony, void help you if you spelled it with an 'I', was a fearsome and cantankerous old woman who ran the most prolific public house in Piltover, she was originally from Bilgewater and Vi was sure that in her youth she must have been a pirate. She had to be at least in her mid fifties now, not that that stopped her from smashing heads together if anyone was stupid enough to fight under her roof. "Sorry" Vi mumbled into her glass as it was refilled by the matronly woman, who tutted in response and eyed her warily before moving onto the next patron signalling her attention.

Despite her crotchety and fierce demeanour, Vi knew that Tony had a massive soft spot for her, primarily because she was always made to feel welcome, that and the great deals she got on drinks. If she thought about it, it was probably because the ex-pirate saw in her a younger version of herself, indeed the two were similar, both stubborn to a fault and better with their fists than words. Vi downed the rest of her glass at the thought, slamming it onto the counter and threw her head back, shoving both of her hands into her unruly pink hair. The goggles that were casually placed there were displaced by the movement and clattered to the floor, in response she groaned before smashing her head onto the bar.

A prolonged tut interrupted her depressed face plant, Vi spoke with her face still pressed against the wooden counter top and mumbled "go 'way", to which Tony responded with an eye roll and "so what's up hon?" Her tone was sympathetic and her eyes had narrowed in concern, this slump was out of character for the usually laid back enforcer. When all Tony heard in answer was a loud grumble, she leaned over the bar and placed a hand on the woman's shoulder before threatening "don't you ignore me now."

Vi growled into the woodwork before murmuring "I'm an idiot, I got really mad at Caitlyn earlier and I broke her door. Again." "Is that it?" exclaimed Tony furiously, placing her hands on her hips agitated "here I am thinking that you've got yourself in serious trouble and all you've done is upset your girlfriend?" Vi kept her face pressed against the hard surface, only moving to raise a solitary finger in displeasure and using it to swear at the hardened ex-pirate who chuckled in response.

"I wasn't aware that we were dating" interjected a soft voice behind Vi, who jumped up out of shock, her entire body reacting to the sound of Caitlyn's breathy accent. Wheeling around quickly on her stool, she came face to face with her partner, who was stood with the ghost of a smirk on her face, cheeks ruddy from the cold and wrapped up in her large fleecy coat. Vi thought she had never seen her look so beautiful, she stared at the sheriff still largely in shock, glancing at the snowflakes that had settled at stark contrast in her dark hair. Caitlyn stared back into the wide eyes of her partner, and took note with pleasure that her mouth was slightly agape, Vi's face was also a touch red, she would dare say that the enforcer had been drinking quite a bit.

As soon as Caitlyn had left the police department, she had headed for Vi's apartment believing it more likely to be where the upset enforcer had went. After being catcalled throughout the shady district, she had no idea why Vi chose to live there considering she earned enough for a nicer complex, she had almost beat down the door out of frustration. Only once one of the neighbours swore at the sheriff that she hadn't seen her did she head over to the Blue Flame, this meant Vi could only have been here for about thirty minutes if that. The heady scent of rum cascading in waves from the flummoxed enforcer betrayed how much she must have drank in that short space of time, Caitlyn's nose crinkled in distaste unconsciously.

"Shall we head over to somewhere slightly more private" suggested Caitlyn, gesturing towards an open booth in the dark recesses of the public house, she smiled at Vi's hurried nod. Walking over to the booth, the sheriff called over her shoulder "perhaps if you buy me a drink, I can get the next one?", perhaps it was because Vi was quite tipsy but she could have sworn that the sheriff's tone was playful, maybe even flirty. As she watched the brunette stride towards the booth, she was painfully aware of her heartbeat as it thundered in her ears, it's pace frightfully quick. Many of the locals who frequented the Blue Flame were observing the sheriff carefully, quite a few of those near the booth she was headed to decided to abscond their current seats and move further away.

"She's quite a woman eh?" joked Tony from behind the bar letting out a low whistle, she tapped Vi playfully upside the head, who was stood with glazed eyes following the brunette. Feeling the smack she quickly turned to the bar woman and grinned, before grabbing the two glasses she had just placed there and crying "wish me luck" with an exaggerated wink. As she meandered around the haphazardly placed tables and chairs, Vi's spirits that had begun to soar at the sight of cupcake once again, plunged as she remembered why she had been in the bar initially. Her face dropped as she continued towards the booth, much more hesitantly than she had been, it was very possible that Caitlyn had came to find Vi only to continue arguing, or scold her about the door, or even, and this thought was the worst, tell her how disappointed she was.

Her chest seized at the thought and she stopped in place holding the two glasses, her eyes wide as she mulled over her actions earlier. Indignant fury gripped her, no doubt inspired by the large quantity of rum she had consumed, her eyes narrowed remembering the look of pity on Caitlyn's face and how it had hurt her to see it. Gritting her teeth, she stomped the remainder of the short distance over to where the sheriff had indicated them to sit. Glancing angrily, she focused on the stiff posture of her partner as she watched the enforcer storming over. Vi threw herself into the seat opposite, placing the glasses down roughly and stared into the other woman's stormy eyes, locking onto one another in the process.

Caitlyn was sat stiffly with her arms crossed, Vi was certain that her legs were also crossed though she would not break their staring contest to check. The enforcer removed both her gauntlets and dropped them onto the table, their extra weight leading it to verge to one side, she was pleased to note the brunette's nostrils flare at the thoughtless action. Caitlyn had not searched for her partner only to sit in a ghastly public house and stare at one another angrily, her eyes narrowed at the thought and she reached out to take one of the glasses of rum. Giving it a derisive sniff, she scowled at both Vi's smirk and the strength of the rum, steeling herself she downed the entire beverage without breaking eye contact.

Vi was surprised to say the least, Gangplank's personal blend was extremely strong, most people vomited after drinking it, she herself struggled to swallow it down. Yet here was the dainty sheriff of Piltover, looking as if she had drank nothing more than a particularly fragrant glass of water, her face must have betrayed her shock as Caitlyn began to smirk. They continued to stare at one another for a few moments until finally the sheriff sighed in frustration and stated fiercely "I did not come here to stare at you over rum." Seeing that Vi was about to interrupt her, she spoke honestly "I came here to apologise" and reached out with her hand in order to grip one of Vi's.

This had not been one of the scenarios that Vi had imagined while she was staring into her glass of rum, the shock of physical contact felt like a literal electrical shock that burst down her spine. She could feel the warmth pulsating from Caitlyn's hand as it gripped onto her own gently, it was quite difficult to concentrate on anything aside from how nice this felt. "I'm sorry for earlier, I was not thinking. I certainly do not pity you Vi" exclaimed the sheriff in an earnest whisper, firmly squeezing her hand to accentuate her point. "No, I'm sorry" started Vi, staring down at their joined hands "this time of year is just...hard for me. I shouldn't have got so angry with you, and I'm sorry about your door."

At the last comment, Vi had looked up at her partner apologetically and was surprised to see a large grin on her face. "It's okay, I'm sure it will be fixed when we get back from the holidays" sighed Caitlyn, who shrugged and glanced back at the enforcer. Vi smiled back and downed her drink, as if by magic, Tony had appeared by their booth with a bottle of Black Pearl. "Hey, thanks Tony" expressed the enforcer with a wide grin, the ex-pirate grinned back in response before glancing at their hands on the table. The sheriff pulled back her hand immediately following the glance, looking as if she'd been burnt by the contact. Tony raised an eyebrow at the reaction, then turned to Caitlyn with a heartfelt smile. "You must be Caitlyn" she queried politely, though she was well aware of who the sheriff was "I've heard so much about you" she continued, choosing to ignore the indignant stare she received from Vi.

The sheriff smiled as politely back, her eyes glancing confusedly at her partner, begging introduction. "Oh, this is Tony, she runs this place" stated Vi, rubbing the back of her neck unconsciously with her free hand, Caitlyn smiled at the familiar gesture before reaching out with her free hand and shaking the woman's hand. "Pleased to meet you" the sheriff spoke confidently, "the pleasure is all mine" replied Tony amicably with a pleasant smile. Vi coughed not at all discretely and nudged her head in the direction of the bar, the much older woman took the hint, exclaiming "I should probably get back to work then, enjoy the rum" before heading back towards the bar.

"She seems nice" commented the brunette about their unexpected guest, Vi grinned apologetically and replied "she is, just don't get on her bad side, I've heard stories..." trailing off with an exaggerated shudder. Caitlyn giggled involuntarily at her comment, which left the enforcer beaming as she poured the two of them large glasses of rum. It was odd but she could still feel warmth pulsating from the hand that had been grabbed earlier. Shaking her head to dislodge the sentimental thought, she lifted her glass to toast the woman across from her, though it was possible that the alcohol was making Caitlyn all the more attractive, Vi found it hard to concentrate on anything else.

Caitlyn returned the toast and downed her glass once more, Vi glanced at the sheriff over her own, she was quite surprised by how quickly she was able to drink. Raising an eyebrow at the curious glance from the enforcer, she questioned "surprised?" with a slight smirk on her face she continued "you shouldn't be, I've had to down my fair share of alcohol at events I'd much rather attend merry." Vi clapped an exaggerated hand over her mouth, feigning outrage "our very own sheriff, drunk at charity benefits, oh the shame." Caitlyn swatted the dramatic pink haired woman, "shush, don't tell everyone" she hissed whilst giggling at the theatrics, "besides they are boring affairs, I think you'd drink a fair bit too" she stated haughtily, though still smiling.

Pouring the both of them another glass, Vi chuckled "probably, don't know, never been to one" before shrugging and taking another sip of rum. The alcohol was starting to hit Caitlyn now, having downed three full glasses of rum in fifteen minutes, her vision was blurring just a touch and she felt very confident. Her eyes focused on the enforcers hextech gear tattoos that ran down the side of her neck, a devilish thought came to her as she wondered what other tattoos she might have. Vi glanced up from her rum, only to find her partner sat with narrowed glossy eyes and biting her lip quite forcefully, the strangest part was that Caitlyn was staring in her direction.

Turning around to see if anything behind her was causing the reaction, she found the area around them deserted, confused she turned to Caitlyn and snapped her fingers in front of her face stating "earth to cupcake." The brunette seemed to shake herself from a trance, before grinning at Vi and signalling her to come closer with her index finger. The enforcer obliged by moving around the table and sitting next to her partner, the two of them finished their current glasses and Vi raised an eyebrow at her questioningly. Caitlyn brought her face close to the enforcer and whispered in her ear "I like your tattoos" before pulling back and biting her lip once again, eyes lidded.

Heat, throbbing, pain, these were all sensations that demanded Vi's attention in response to her partner's close proximity, especially following her lips pressing against her earlobe. The comment she had made, it kind of made Vi think that Caitlyn's earlier glazed look might have been about her, brushing the thought away she came back to reality with a crash as she realised a hand had just placed itself upon her thigh. Her entire body stiffened in reaction as internally she began to scream in both pleasure and pain, turning to face Caitlyn, she found her partner glancing coyly at her, seemingly unaware of the roving hand that was now gripping her upper thigh firmly.

The sheriff began to giggle at the stupefied expression on Vi's face, she liked it, at least she knew how to get her to shut up in the future. Caitlyn had a fairly good idea that she was being very flirty, this tended to be a side effect of any alcohol consumption for her, well that and falling asleep wherever she was. She moved her face towards the pink haired woman, and burst into a fit of giggles at the thought of kissing her on the cheek, which she leaned in and did promptly. Feeling the heat radiating from Vi's cheek brought a smirk to her face, could her thick-headed partner be blushing? Pulling away, her eyes roved over the shocked woman's face and lit up when she observed that there was indeed a prominent and very vibrant blush on her cheeks.

Pinching herself in order to ascertain that this was indeed reality, Vi's entire body was tense in reaction to Caitlyn's very obvious and very tempting flirting. She desperately wanted to believe that the woman she had found attractive since they met was genuinely flirting with her. Glancing between the sheriff's heavily lidded eyes, lightly squeezing hand and the two thirds empty bottle of the strongest rum that Bilgewater had to offer, her hazy brain made the connection. "Cupcake..." she began firmly, interrupted by the sheriff's hand drifting even further up her thigh, she was dangerously close to touching her stomach now and one of her fingers was creeping under her shirt, ghosting across the taut flesh there.

"Cupcake, please" she stated desperately, trying to retain some semblance of sanity, she gripped the roving hand and pulled it towards her. Trying to ignore the pout on Caitlyn's face, she squeezed her hand firmly and held it on the table, somewhere safe where it would not cause a sharp throbbing pain between Vi's thighs. Taking a moment to compose herself might be an idea, she stood from the table and smiled at her partner in order to show no bad will at the touchy feely gesture, stating "I need the toilet." Caitlyn ran a hand through her cascading dark hair, trying to comprehend the words that had just came from Vi's mouth, understanding the word toilet she shot from the table also.

"Me too" she mumbled in response, before beginning to sway towards the 'wench' door near them. Vi watched her hesitantly, on the one hand, her partner was very drunk and almost certainly shouldn't be left alone for her own safety. On the other hand though, it was probably not a smart idea to be in a small room with the stunning woman currently flirting with her. She watched Caitlyn push the door roughly, overestimating the strength necessary she fell through, only to land face down on the floor. Vi ran over to check whether she was injured, only to watch the brunette begin to laugh so uproariously she started to roll around on the floor.

Rolling her eyes at the out of the ordinary antics, Vi leaned down on one knee to Caitlyn who was still giggling and placed a hand on her cheek gently. "What am I going to do with you?" she chuckled, eyes gleaming as she stared into bright brown eyes that narrowed in triumph. Suddenly Vi felt her shoulders being pulled forward, unprepared for the movement, she thrust her arms out in order to land safely on the floor and found herself pressed nose to nose with the giggling sheriff, arms either side of her. Caitlyn was enjoying herself very much, lying in the doorway to the women's toilets wasn't usually something she would plan for a Friday night, but with this much rum in her and the quite handsome woman on top of her, it seemed like a great idea.

"I suspect you've fallen for me" murmured the sheriff, eyes alight with mischief and a broad smirk on her face, she chewed her lip following the comment and stared into the frightened eyes of her partner. Vi was almost certain this was some sort of alternate universe where Caitlyn had morphed into an Ahri-like succubus, she felt the brunettes thighs pressing against her sides and found it very hard to focus on anything, her thoughts descending into a chorus of screams. It took everything inside of her not to lean down and capture the lips of the woman beneath her, especially if she was going to continue biting them in the most frustrating of ways.

All Vi could hear was the pounding of her heart as she stared down into the dark eyes of her partner, who began to smile genuinely up at her, this caused both a pang deep in her chest and a painful throbbing from between her thighs. "Hey Vi" whispered Caitlyn, "guess what?", the pink haired woman raised an eyebrow at her question, before whispering back "what?" The sheriff giggled once more and spoke softly "I'm drunk", in response Vi rolled her eyes and stated "gathered that" with a wide smirk. Caitlyn then yawned and smiled sleepily at her partner, murmuring "I'm also sleepy, sleepy when drunk", the enforcer could not help grinning at her, the tired gestures were utterly adorable.

"Shall we get you home then?" queried Vi, who moved to get up from the floor and once stood, held out a hand to her inebriated friend. Caitlyn took it graciously and allowed herself to be lifted, she laughed at nothing in particular and sauntered over to their booth in order to grab her belongings. The enforcer watched her go with a slew of mixed emotions, surely this was the strangest fucking evening she had had in her life, what was with Caitlyn being all over her. It must have been the alcohol, she made a mental note to include rum in every single gathering they both attended from now on. Eyeing the brunette warily whilst placing her gauntlets back on, Vi observed her swaying a lot and narrowly missing many of the tables on the way to the exit, she followed hurriedly and placed an arm around her shoulders. "Let me help" she stated firmly, glancing worriedly into her partners heavily lidded eyes, however once Caitlyn had felt herself being supported she had went limp.

Vi stood in the middle of the Bilgewater pub, now holding up her passed out partner and cursing whatever gods existed for this predicament. She quickly placed her other arm underneath Caitlyn's legs in order to support her and ended up carrying the woman in her arms. "Looks like you've pulled!" echoed a gruff voice in the bar, which roused a massive bout of laughter from the brigands who frequented the place, narrowing her eyes at the direction of the voice, she continued towards the door. Tony was stood by the door with her arms crossed and her eyebrow raised good naturedly, she smirked before exclaiming "make sure you get her home safe, guess rum is not really her drink." Vi didn't miss the knowing gleam in the barkeeps eye but she responded with a smile and an assured "don't worry I will. See you soon."

Once she had exited the pub, Vi was almost certain that whatever she had done in a past life to deserve this series of events, certainly did not warrant the three feet of snow on the ground. Sighing exaggeratedly, she resolved to just take the both of them to her apartment, it would be too far to walk to Caitlyn's. Not because the woman was heavy, but the sheriff was not dressed for the weather, and as a shiver ran through Vi, she accepted that neither was she. Following her route home down the deserted streets, it had to be at least three in the morning, her eyes roved across the frozen landscape. She had to admit it was kind of beautiful, though her chattering teeth were a bit of a distraction, thankfully the alcohol was keeping her warm enough to make it to her front door without losing any appendages to the frost.

Attempting to hold onto the sleeping beauty in her arms and put the key in the door must have been quite a sight, eventually the sheriff ended up on her shoulder as Vi pushed the door open and stepped the both of them through. Once she had walked into the bedroom and gingerly placed Caitlyn down onto the bed, she ran towards the boiler in order to put the heating on, she would not have been surprised to see penguins roaming around the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water so that her hangover the next morning would not be quite so painful, she gulped it down before filling one for Caitlyn and heading for the bedroom.

Placing the glass down on the bedside cabinet, she reached into her cupboard to grab the spare duvet and a pillow, resigning herself to a night on the couch. After setting up her own temporary bed, she tip toed into the bedroom once again and moved the brunette gently, attempting to make the bed around her. Caitlyn grumbled sleepily and grabbed one of her pillows, almost cuddling it, until she lay still once more, ever so lightly snoring. Vi smiled at the sheriff and her dainty snores, before walking over to the light and turning it off. "Vi?" mumbled a tired sounding voice, the woman in question walked over to the bed once again and responded with a whispered "yeah?" Caitlyn reached out with her hand blindly and the enforcer gripped it with her own.

"Come to boring function with me" the sheriff slurred into her pillow, Vi was unsure whether this was a question or a statement, but she answered with a quiet "yeah" which seemed to sate the dozing woman who settled back into a deep sleep. Once she had left the room, she threw her hands into her untidy pink hair and growled quietly at the mixed emotions she felt. When she was finally in her sweatpants and sat on the sofa, Vi placed her elbows on her knees and grabbed her head in her hands, groaning lightly to herself. From the events of this evening she had to face facts, she had fallen for Caitlyn and like everything else she did in life, she had fallen hard.

* * *

Pain, unquenchable thirst and pain again, were the thoughts that dominated Caitlyn's mind when she was awoken from her deep sleep, she felt absolutely terrible. Snuggling into the pillow her head lay upon, she stopped and gave it a derisive sniff, this was not her bed. Her eyes shot open, staring at the black duvet she lay under, this was not her bed or her bedroom, she sat up quickly before the room began to spin and groaned loudly lying back down. "Morning cupcake" called a sugary sweet voice at the door, cracking one eye open, Caitlyn stared at the smirking figure of Vi, who was leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed.

Desperately trying to remember what had happened the evening prior, Caitlyn recalled Vi shouting in the police department, her leaving to find the enforcer and then being in the Blue Flame. Her eyes widened as she remembered the extent to which she had flirted with the woman now grinning in the doorway, it couldn't have been. "Don't worry cupcake, I carried you to my bed and like a true gentleman, I slept on the couch" stated Vi honestly, walking over to sit on the bottom of the bed. Caitlyn attempted to sit up once again, taking it slower and was soon propped up, she then placed a palm to her forehead groaning. "Tea?" questioned the enforcer with a smirk as she watched the brunette close her eyes wincing at the headache, "here drink some water, I'll go make you a tea" she then walked off towards the kitchen and soon the sheriff heard the sound of the kettle whistling.

Once Vi had returned with the sacred cup of tea, the sheriff had almost downed it in an attempt to get hydrated once again, she drank it hurriedly, choosing to ignore the wide smirk on the enforcer's face. "You carried me?" began Caitlyn hesitantly, once she had finished the drink "I don't remember that" she murmured unsure, a frown evident upon her face. Vi placed the cup out of harms way before jumping next to her on the bed and turning her body to face the brunette with her legs crossed underneath her, it was only then that Caitlyn noticed the clothing, or lack thereof, of her partner. She had never seen the pink haired woman in anything but her normal gear, besides the skins they sometimes wore on the rift, but they had little say in those outfits. Shuddering at the indignity of battle bunny Riven, she glanced again at Vi, more specifically Vi in a vest and comfortable looking sweatpants.

Roving her eyes over the hextech gear tattoos that had so fascinated her the evening prior, she was pleased to note that Vi did have more than just the ones on her neck and face. "Yeah, I carried you home, because I'm hench obviously. I gotta ask, how did you fall asleep stood up?" exclaimed the enforcer enthusiastically, unintentionally interrupting Caitlyn, who was embarrassed to find she had been checking Vi out. "Erm, I don't know, if I drink at all, I can honestly just fall asleep wherever, that's why I don't make a habit of it" responded the sheriff earnestly, wincing once again at the throbbing behind her eyes. Vi grinned at the statement before inquiring "so last night you said you wanted me to go to a boring function with you?..." trailing off because she had started to laugh at Caitlyn's look of surprise.

"Oh my goodness, yes, it's the annual snowdown celebration at my parent's manor this evening" exclaimed Caitlyn loudly, clapping both hands to her cheeks as she remembered the date, then groaned once again and collapsed onto the bed. Vi observed this behaviour with a grin, stating matter of factly "if you don't want to go then just don't", the brunette scowled up at her from the pillows and sighed "if only I could, it's the one function I can't get out of unfortunately, plus it's the only time I can see my parents before snowdown." Catching the confused expression on Vi's face she explained "they have a cabin in the Freljord they spend the holidays in", Vi shook her head at the explanation and stated "of course they do" before questioning hesitantly "so...you want me to go with you...to your parent's party?"

Caitlyn stared into the unsure azure eyes of her partner and smiled widely, nodding her head and responding "yeah, it might be fun with you." "You should know by now, everything is fun with me cupcake" stated Vi charmingly, wiggling her eyebrows and nudging the brunette with her shoulder. Taking note of Vi's beaming grin, Caitlyn shook her head lightheartedly at how she had inflated the enforcer's already large ego and swatted at the pink haired woman. Glancing around the room with a smile, she caught sight of a large clock and gasped horrified at the time, "Vi It's already 2 in the afternoon, what the hell!" she screamed aghast before flinging back the covers and racing to get her boots back on.

Vi watched her attempting to get dressed with an indignant facial expression before protesting "hey this is when I usually get up, what's the hurry?" Caitlyn turned to the enforcer with her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes before stating "I am still in my clothes from last night and the guests will be arriving at seven o'clock sharp, I need to get ready, and so do you." With that comment, the sheriff stormed out of the bedroom door, before reappearing a moment later with her coat and rifle. She stood in the doorway, noticing that Vi had not moved at all from her perch on the bed and groaned loudly, "Vi, you have to be at mine for six o'clock okay? We need to be on time" she warned, her eyes ablaze.

"Yeah, yeah, I know" sighed Vi, running a hand through her hair unconsciously, she looked up at the frustrated woman with a tired smile. Caitlyn rolled her eyes at the gesture, her tension seeming to abate for the moment, she walked over to her partner and genuinely smiled. "Thank you for looking after me last night, I might have had a bit too much rum" stated the brunette apologetically, placing a hand on her shoulder. Vi grinned up at her, responding with "I couldn't just leave you there cupcake, had to make sure you were okay", the comment caused Caitlyn to feel a pain deep within her chest that had nothing to do with excess alcohol. The smile on her face quickly became a smirk as she leaned in closer to Vi and placed a kiss upon her cheek.

The enforcer stiffened at the deliberate action, unable to believe that not only was Caitlyn in her bedroom but she had also just kissed her, on the cheek, but a kiss no less. "I'll see you soon" she murmured into Vi's ear canal, her lips pressing against the soft skin there, before pulling away and sauntering towards the door with a satisfied grin. Vi was frozen, trying to comprehend what had just happened, clearly Caitlyn was still drunk, she had to be. "Make sure you wear something nice!" came a shout from the front door, before Vi heard it slam shut. As soon as it closed, she shot up from the bed and began to tear her wardrobe apart, attempting to find something to wear for this evening, with a grin she noted that it might be a good idea to follow her advice.

* * *

 **To Be Continued**


	6. Snowdown

Hey guys, sorry for the absurdly long wait, I've been on holiday so when I've not been playing league of legends I've been spending time with my girlfriend. The things we do for love eh? I hope you like it, obviously if you do, then any feedback would be greatly appreciated! This chapter is dedicated to Eleanor, who wouldn't leave me alone until I'd written it aha. She also proof read it when it was four am and the two of us were drunk so if there are any grievous errors in spelling and grammar please let me know.

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Wincing, whilst attempting to affix mascara onto her bothersome eyelashes, Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at her reflection. "How irritating..." she mumbled, placing the tube of make up down onto her bedside cabinet, not only did she have to attend her parent's snowdown celebration, a horrific prospect at the best of times, she would have to do it with the remnants of her still painful hangover incapacitating her. Scowling into the mirror, she begun the arduous process of applying the make up she so loathed, lipstick was so impractical, she dared say that more of it would end up on the glasses of wine than remain on her lips. If she had any say whatsoever in how she looked at such celebrations, then it would certainly be off the cards, however there were standards that the Buxton family were beholden to.

She was fairly certain that one of the reasons she had to be so beautifully presented at such functions, was because her father had intentions towards a suitor for her that would elevate the already esteemed status of her family. Scowling at the thought she checked her reflection once more, deeming herself satisfactory for the evening and glanced at the alarm clock beside her bed. Her stomach dropped as she realised that it was almost quarter to six, it would not be long before Vi was here, well that was if the generally tardy enforcer appeared on time, which was unlikely. Now that she was ready, she could no longer distract herself from thoughts of the previous evening, remembering how amorous her drunken self had been she threw herself onto the bed with a thump groaning loudly.

Honestly she had no idea what she had been thinking the previous evening, it had just felt so...pleasant to be in such close proximity with Vi, not only that but flirting with the enforcer had been so easy and comfortable. It almost felt natural, though this was definitely swayed by the alcohol, sighing she threw a hand over her eyes shielding them from the bright light above her. She wasn't sure whether or not she wanted Vi to discuss the events of last night, the thought both terrified and excited her. On the one hand, it might be possible that the enforcer had enjoyed it, which opened a vast and unending can of worms, on the other hand, Vi might have loathed her advances and was shocked by the whole ordeal.

Frowning deeply at the ceiling, Caitlyn tried to make sense of which scenario she would prefer. Obviously she did not want her best friend to feel in any way embarrassed by the flirting, physically cringing at the memory of pulling Vi on top of her she grabbed a pillow and flung it over her face, with a prolonged moan. What on earth had she been thinking, not only did she have to work with the enforcer, but her actions might have made things uncomfortable between herself and her best friend. Caitlyn was not a fool, she was very aware that she could be a difficult person to be friends with, this was reinforced by the fact that her only friends were other champions she met on Summoner's Rift, most of whom lived nowhere near Piltover.

The only person who had not only put up with Caitlyn's serious and sometimes acerbic manner, and seemed to actively enjoy hanging around with her was Vi. It was hard to believe that the stubborn vigilante and the prim and proper sheriff had managed to work together without murdering the other, let alone become so close. A subdued smile spread across Caitlyn's face as she thought about her first meeting with the enforcer, after researching as much as she could about the vigilante, she had tracked down Vi to the public house they had spent most of the evening prior in. So that she could actually talk with the woman, the sheriff had gone incognito, choosing to forgo her usual attire and dress casually. The effect had made her almost unrecognisable, particularly in the dimly lit and busy tavern, it had not been difficult to get Vi's attention, she thought with a smirk.

The thought of their first meeting raised an odd question however, Vi had been aggressively flirting with her from the moment they met, however last night when Caitlyn had been making advances shamelessly upon the enforcer, there had been no reciprocation. Frowning up at the ceiling, she felt strangely indignant at the fact, though she wasn't sure what her reaction would have been had Vi responded to her drunken attempts at flirting. Maybe she just wasn't her type, her partner did seem to favour blondes whenever there was an opportune moment to charm a member of the fairer sex. In a way this helped to massage her somewhat bruised ego, however thinking too hard about it led her to think that perhaps Vi had stopped being interested once she had gotten to know Caitlyn better.

A loud banging interrupted her scowling match with a particularly irritating ceiling tile, making a mental note to postpone her analysis of whether her personality or her looks were the most off-putting, she jumped from the bed. Glancing into the mirror, she flattened her long brown hair before heading towards the door, resolving herself to being on her best behaviour this evening. The rapping resumed with a loud 'hey cupcake you home? Hello?' and a rhythmic tapping to a beat she did not recognise, she hoped the enforcer was not this energised at the celebration. Upon pulling the door open, she came face to face with her pink haired partner still with a fist raised ready to rap upon the door, she was pleased to note that she looked shocked.

"Wow cupcake you scrub up nice" Vi stated awestruck, letting out a small whistle as she appraised the brunette in front of her. Caitlyn rolled her eyes in response before glancing at the outfit of her partner. She was pleasantly surprised that Vi had dressed up rather nicely, she had had a pretty terrifying daydream that the enforcer would turn up in some sort of pool party aesthetic trying to be funny. Vi raised an eyebrow as she watched the sheriff give a slight nod of approval at the white suit she often wore for formal occasions, there had been an issue earlier where she had to quickly get some stains off it, Caitlyn would never forgive her if she had turned up with blood streaking down her.

Extending her arm towards Caitlyn in order for her to grab onto it, Vi grinned before enquiring "would you care to accompany me to the Buxton residence my lady?" in a pretentious parody of the uptown accent. With her coiffed pink hair, raised eyebrow and charming grin, Caitlyn couldn't help but think that the enforcer looked particularly handsome, though she attempted to push the thought from her mind. Grasping onto the extended arm with a flourish, the brunette flashed a dazzling smile before replying with a falsetto "I thought you'd never ask."

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The walk through Piltover had been particularly uninteresting, there had been no robberies to halt, no muggers to apprehend, in fact Caitlyn was quite worried that eventually the two of them would have to talk about the evening prior. If that was Vi's intention however she made no effort towards that topic of conversation, choosing instead to regale her partner with an animated story about how she had single handedly saved a litter of orphaned kittens from being experimented upon by the insidious Dr Mundo. Caitlyn did not have the heart to tell Vi that she had heard this story at least three times already, she knew when to nod and when to gasp shocked at certain parts of the tale.

As they continued towards the manor, snowflakes began to descend at an alarming rate, Caitlyn pulled the hood of her fleecy green coat over her hair, she had not straightened it just to have snow settle on it and make it frizzy. The sound of chattering teeth caused her to look to her left only to find Vi shivering with her hands tucked up underneath her armpits for warmth. "Oh for goodness sake, how many times do I have to tell you that you should wear a coat? It's the middle of winter, honestly" scolded the sheriff, tutting to accentuate her point. The statement lost most of it's acerbic tone by the end, primarily because Vi looked so pathetic that it was kind of adorable. "Wish I had my gauntlets" stuttered the pink haired woman, to which Caitlyn responded with an indignant "well I am glad that you haven't, it's my parent's manor, not a war zone."

Vi pouted at the comment, before sniffling and her teeth began to chatter once more, Caitlyn eyed her warily before hailing one of the taxi cabs that were passing slowly by. The sheriff also ignored the protests Vi attempted, such as how expensive they were and how they were almost there, before pushing the pink haired woman into the waiting taxi cab. Once they were seated and Caitlyn had issued a blunt "Buxton Manor", the brunette turned to survey her partner who was now blowing on her hands in an attempt to attempt to warm them. Rolling her eyes at Vi, she stated "here" and grabbed her hands, pressing them between her own in order to help heat them up, hissing through her teeth she recognised that they were in fact freezing.

Glancing up from their joined hands, she caught sight of Vi's perplexed expression and made a pointed effort to glance out of the window. A quite fervent blush spread across her cheeks as she stared intently at the passing scenery, the sparse trees on the outskirts of central Piltover were becoming much more thickly bunched, indicating that they were drawing ever closer to their destination. Vi's hands began to slowly acclimate and soon were at room temperature, she made no effort to draw them back from Caitlyn's grasp however and instead turned one of her hands upwards so her palm was resting underneath Caitlyn's own.

Dark brown eyes widened as the brunette stared out of the window, she was not sure what to make of the gesture and as she glanced out of the corner of her eye towards Vi, she found the enforcer was also staring out of her own window, albeit with a huge smirk upon her face. So she knew what she was doing, speculated the sheriff, eyeing the woman next to her warily, perhaps this was a friendly gesture of thanks, maybe it was a nervous and comforting gesture in anticipation of the evening ahead. Caitlyn was well aware that the unpolished and brash enforcer was not keen on fancy parties and engagements of a more political nature, she was much more at home in a gym or a dive bar. A smug grin spread across her face as a thought crossed her mind, she murmured "are you scared Vi?" with a teasing tone, watching as Vi's jaw clenched before she stated firmly "no."

Caitlyn had just opened her mouth to tease the enforcer more when the taxi driver harrumphed and spoke loudly "Buxton manor sheriff, we're here." She quickly glanced out of the car to find that they were indeed at her childhood home, she thanked the man and passed over more than enough for their fare before disembarking. Compared to the other vehicles on the drive, the taxi did not make for an auspicious entrance, however holding her head high she remembered that she didn't much care for the opinions of others, much unlike her father. Casting a roving eye across the driveway and the pheasants perched on the edge of the roque court, she smiled at the large expanse of woodland that surrounded her familial home, inhaling deeply the aroma of pine.

Turning to grin at her partner, Caitlyn was flummoxed to find that Vi was still sat stubbornly in the taxi, her eyes wide as she surveyed their surroundings. Leaning back into the car she grabbed Vi's hand and pulled her out, or attempted to anyway, the enforcer was acting like dead weight and refused to be shifted. "Vi, we're here, let's go" she stated sweetly in an attempt to cajole the pink haired woman out of the car, when she did not react in any way but to shake her head, Caitlyn sighed loudly and hissed "you are making a scene, if you are not out of this car in three seconds, I will never let you have one of my cupcakes again, do you hear me?"

The threat worked its magic and Vi was out of the taxi in no time, she brushed herself down self consciously and stared petulantly back at the sheriff, before stating firmly "that was low cupcake, you know I love your baking." Caitlyn shrugged at the comment before pulling Vi towards the expanse of woodland at the foot of the driveway with a cry of "look at all the nature" and gesturing towards the trees. Vi made a noise of consent but was staring at the woods with an unsure expression, growing up in the slums of Zaun and then spending most of her adulthood in the techmaturgical centre of Piltover, she had not spent much time around nature. Watching Caitlyn light up at the surrounding woodland, she could see why the sheriff might be enamoured with the idea of camping, something she had frequently mentioned might be fun to do together.

To be perfectly honest Vi could think of nothing more boring than sitting in the woods and staring at the leaves on the floor, however, casting a glance towards the still beaming brunette, she thought it might be worthwhile in order to spend some time with her partner. Especially following whatever had happened the previous evening, she had waited to see whether Caitlyn would mention anything or attempt to talk about her flirty behaviour, but as of yet nothing. If it had been any other woman the night previous pulling Vi on top of them, the enforcer dared say she would not have been sleeping on the couch, however Caitlyn was something else. She was absolutely not a conquest, in fact she was her closest friend and the main reason that she had been unable to respond to her drunken advances was because Vi had fallen for the serious brunette quite some time ago.

Of all the stupid things that Vi could have done, she had had to fall for the sheriff of Piltover. Not only a sheriff, but also the heir to the Buxton inheritance, although Caitlyn did not like to talk about the amount of wealth her family inevitably held, it was fairly obvious based on the manor they were now stood outside and the acres of land surrounding it. The enforcer cast a worried glance towards the fairly imposing building, she wasn't sure what was happening between herself and Caitlyn, but she was fairly certain that her father would not approve of any sort of relationship. To be fair she didn't give a fuck what he thought, but she knew that her partner valued the opinions of her father very highly, and considering Vi's parents were no longer around, who was she to stand in the way of anyone else's relationship with their own.

"Are you listening to me?" an indignant voice interrupted Vi's internal monologue, she turned to find the object of her affection stood with her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised. Caitlyn sighed before repeating herself "I said we should head in now, most of the guests have arrived", Vi shook her head quickly in an attempt to dislodge the sentimental thoughts she had been having before grinning at the confused brunette. "Alright cupcake, let's go" stated the now enthusiastic enforcer who flung her arm around Caitlyn's shoulders as they walked towards the thriving entrance to the manor. "Yes, about that..." began the sheriff, who looked a touch hesitant and began to pull the quite comfortable arm from around her shoulders. She turned to face the puzzled woman before continuing "it might be best if you don't call me cupcake when we are around other people", before Vi could even begin to protest, Caitlyn placed both of her hands upon the much taller woman's shoulder and stated firmly "especially my parents."

Vi laughed at her partner's earnest expression before sobering up at the scowl that had replaced it, "yeah I know cupcake don't worry, it will be our secret." Winking at the disgruntled brunette, she laughed again before extending her arm once more and inviting Caitlyn to grab onto it. She did so and the two of them wandered amicably towards the entrance of the stately home, as they strode past the giant lion statues that flanked the stairs they were now ascending, Vi leaned in to her partner to whisper "hey dontcha think they look like Rengar." Caitlyn visibly stiffened before turning her head quickly towards where the enforcer had indicated, loud laughter burst from the pink haired woman and she was rewarded with a soft slap on her shoulder. "That's not funny" stated Caitlyn indignantly, swatting at the now chuckling woman, Vi wiped a tear from her eye and they continued walking arm in arm.

Though Vi was attempting to stay her usual hilarious self, she could not help but to be a touch awestruck by the grandiose manor they were inside of. Huge and ostentatious paintings and tapestries lined the stone walls and roaring fires sprang from logs placed in fireplaces down the corridor. Revelers lined the hallway, many of whom seemed quite merry and all of whom greeted Caitlyn warmly, the sheriff received them all politely, well aware of the role she would have to play this evening as the sole child of the hosting family. Most of the guests were a bit more reserved in greeting Vi, she was not a usual guest at such functions and the hot headed enforcer had caused her fair share of property damage in the city attempting to capture criminals. Accordingly, many of the rich and famous invited to the snowdown celebration were also those who owned their fair share of property within the city, Caitlyn had heard about their issues with the enforcer quite frequently and often at great length.

Whilst the sheriff thought that her partner was at least somewhat unaware of the sentiments of the aristocracy in Piltover, Vi had a very good idea that many of the fancy pants people at the party had no love lost for her. She could see it in their vacant eyes and false smiles, the whole idea of pretending to like someone for politeness sake was completely foreign to her and it pained her to play along as well. Well it pained her that she couldn't just tell them to go fuck themselves, she rather enjoyed exaggeratedly mimicking their body language in response. Caitlyn was well aware of the behaviour of her partner, but chose to ignore it for the moment, she hoped that the guests would just presume she had no social finesse, which was of course correct anyway.

Suddenly a young woman appeared from the throng gathered around a particularly large fireplace, she was wearing a very short red dress and was sloshing wine from a glass that kept tipping to the side. She flung herself at Caitlyn and wrapped a thin arm around the sheriff's neck before screeching "Cait! So good to see you, oh I've been dying to tell you about my new boyfriend, he's a champion you know!" Vi stared incredulously at the tipsy woman now strangling her partner, Caitlyn whispered a low "hello Cecilia" and attempted to extract herself from the fierce grip around her neck, glancing at Vi with a 'help me' expression. The enforcer coughed to interrupt Cecilia, who was midway into regaling the brunette with a high pitched tale of how the totally gorgeous Ezreal had bumped into her earlier in the evening and how dreamy his eyes were.

Piercing emerald eyes glanced towards the enforcer and roved across her outfit, Vi had the feeling that she was being inspected and raised an eyebrow at the woman in front of her. Cecilia brought both her hands onto her hips, letting go of a grateful Caitlyn and walked closer to Vi, who could see that this woman had no concept of personal space. "So, you must be Vi" Cecilia stated her tone playful as her eyes pointedly glanced at the Roman numerals etched upon the other woman's face. The pink haired woman crossed her arms and grinned at the disconcerting blonde, who continued with "it's nice to finally meet you. You're all anyone's been talking about in Piltover for some time, that and the unfortunate...mess, you brought with you from Zaun."

Both Caitlyn and Vi narrowed their eyes in unison at that last comment, knowing that she had meant Jinx, and the trail of destruction they had of yet been unable to cease. The sheriff stepped closer to Cecilia, their faces inches apart and stated firmly "it's so nice to see you again" through gritted teeth. The smug smirk on the blondes face caused Caitlyn to almost have an aneurysm, as she grasped Vi firmly by the arm and pulled her away, a sickly sweet voice called after them "have fun with your date Cait, she seems...well, your type anyway." Her obnoxious giggle followed them as the brunette stormed into an adjacent room, her protesting partner falling behind, as Caitlyn pulled the door to after them she banged her fist against the wall and sighed deeply.

"Why didn't you let go of me? I would have beat her face in for the way she was talking to you" exclaimed Vi forcefully, gesturing towards the closed door, only pausing to push some of the hair that had flopped onto her forehead back into its rightful place. Caitlyn continued to stare at the door with one hand curled into a fist and stated calmly "I would honestly and sincerely like nothing more, however she is the daughter of another statesman, one who is a close friend of my fathers." Vi watched as the sheriff began to pace haphazardly across the room continuing her rant with "so I have had to be acquaintances with that...snake, for the better part of my life, oh as if she mentioned Jinx, and of course you're my date, who else would I take?"

Though this was certainly not the time or place, Vi leaned in towards the flustered brunette and murmured "so this is a date?", before pulling back with a wink and an exaggerated lip bite. Caitlyn almost screamed, she wheeled to face the thick headed enforcer and stated matter of factly "Vi I am stressed, there are a thousand Cecilia's out there, all of whom I am going to have to pretend to enjoy conversation with. I need you to help me get through this. Trust me this would make a hideous date, of that I am sure." Vi had winced at the quite hideous idea of a thousand Cecilia's and catching the exasperated expression on her partner's face decided to pull her into a tight hug. Caitlyn was utterly surprised by the physical contact and the comforting gesture, so initially she froze in place before placing her arms tentatively around the enforcer.

"I'll help you cupcake" Vi murmured into the brunette's hair, squeezing her after the last word and eliciting a giggle from the usually uptight sheriff. Caitlyn pulled away from the embrace and glanced up into the bright azure eyes she could recognise anywhere and a rather brash idea erupted into her mind as her eyes roved across Vi's slightly parted lips. It would be so easy to just press up onto her toes and lean forwards, in fact it seemed like the greatest idea in the history of ideas, and there had been plenty of great ideas in Piltover. Vi watched unsure as her partner's eyes became momentarily half lidded before a loud knocking erupted from the entrance, followed by a terse statement of "Caitlyn are you in there? The Freljordian royalty are here, they're asking after you."

Caitlyn leaned her head against the shoulder of the other woman and sighed before calling over her shoulder in response "yes father, give me a minute, I'll be right out." Glancing up into the bright eyes of her partner, she smiled and murmured "I don't mind Ashe but that Tryndamere is so brutish, I hope he isn't drinking or I dare say we shall have a brawl later on." Vi grinned in response and stated "hey I like him, he's fun to fight with" before leaning in to murmur "is it time to meet the parents already?" Caitlyn swatted at her quite sharply and stated firmly "you truly are insufferable" but her eyes were crinkling with mirth, she looked unsure before commenting "I am sure that they will love you, well I know my mother will anyway, she's obsessed with hextech, that's one of the many reasons I didn't want you to bring your gauntlets."

Pouting at the sheriff, Vi crossed her arms unhappily and glared at her now smirking partner, she had just opened her mouth to retort when the banging resumed. "Caitlyn I'm starting to look a bit strange talking to a door" a sharp statement interrupted the two and Caitlyn replied with a terse 'coming' before striding towards the door. Vi watched as she pulled open the door only to reveal a much more serious male version of Caitlyn at the door. She had seen pictures of statesman Buxton before, he was a prominent fixture in newspaper stories about anything political in Piltover, in person however it was quite striking just how similar the father and daughter looked, honestly the main difference was the thin pencil moustache that Mr Buxton wore.

At the thought of Caitlyn with similar facial hair, Vi couldn't help but to guffaw quite loudly, clasping a hand over her mouth she shrugged apologetically to Caitlyn who had turned to stare at her with eyes like ice. The austere gentleman at the door raised an eyebrow at her laughter before speaking to his daughter as if nothing had happened, "Caitlyn there are quite a few guests asking after you. Might I ask why you are spending the evening in an empty room with your subordinate officer?" The cutting tone that he had used was so tart it made Caitlyn grimace, she always felt like a naughty school child whenever her father spoke to her that way. "Shall we?" he requested gesturing towards the throngs of people outside in the hallway, without waiting for a response he strode out of the room.

Silence echoed throughout the room as Vi watched her partner stare angrily towards the now empty doorway, her shoulders were tense and though she could not see her face, Vi was certain that Caitlyn was scowling. "Bit harsh isn't he?" stated the offended enforcer, who was watching the door hesitantly, Mr Buxton was not the sort of problem one could punch their way out of, unfortunately for a variety of reasons she would have to remain polite towards him. This meant that she would require copious amounts of alcohol, glancing at the irritated sheriff, she hazarded a guess that the both of them might enjoy some liquid confidence.

Caitlyn was choosing to ignore the comment, she turned to Vi with a grimace and rolled her eyes before following her father in leaving the room. Pausing in the doorway she called over her shoulder "aren't you coming?", at which Vi sprinted over to join her and was rewarded with a dazzling smile. "Sorry, my father is a bit much, especially at events like this, he is always so concerned with what others think" sighed Caitlyn, as the two of them walked amicably into the ballroom, the groups of revelers seemed much more merry than they had previously and as a consequence were less interested in the passing pair. "Fucking hell cupcake, do your parents have an island?" asked the shocked enforcer, gazing around the spectacularly decorated room with awe.

"No" stated the sheriff firmly, she cast a derisive eye over the guests intermingling on the dance floor, sniffing in distaste she continued "they have a share in a small island off Ionia, so technically only half an island." Vi stared incredulously at her partner, her eyebrows raised at the nonchalant mention of such substantial wealth, she scoffed before scouting out her favourite location in a stuffy formal event such as this, the bar. "Hey cupcake, you want anything?" she asked whilst gesturing towards the waiting barman nearby, Caitlyn nodded in response and Vi headed off. The sheriff continued to scan amongst the guests lining the walls, a soft "aha" burst from her lips as she spotted some guests that she did in fact not mind talking to.

"Hey professor" she greeted the mustachioed yordle with a wide grin, he beamed at her in response before stating "hello sheriff, I must say the assortment of powders on your face have certainly done the trick, and it is nice to see you out of your usual attire." "Hey, I called dibs Heimer, she's my date" quipped Vi as she barged into their conversation, now with two rather full glasses of wine, Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the choice of beverage and Vi grinned before exclaiming "thought it might be best to leave the rum until later" and winked at the now visibly flustered brunette. A subdued blush momentarily appeared on Caitlyn's face as she thought about their previous evening and she swatted at the chuckling enforcer.

Heimerdinger raised a rather bushy eyebrow at the two of them before commenting "don't worry Vi, I'm more than occupied with the delegate from Bandle City, though we could certainly trade if that's what you wanted." "Depends on who it is" joked the enforcer who received a sharp slap on the shoulder at the comment, she rubbed it wincing exaggeratedly before something brushed against her leg and she tensed staring down only to find nothing there. Confused, she wheeled around attempting to find what had touched her, though she saw nothing she heard a high pitched giggle that cut through her like a knife. Not him, oh please, not "captain Teemo on duty" shrieked a small and adorable looking yordle that had just appeared by Vi's feet.

Similar to an elephant being frightened of a small mouse, the tall pink haired woman flinched when she saw Teemo materialise out of thin air, oh god she hated him so fucking much. Flashbacks of counter jungling, blinding darts and being choked by mushrooms hidden in the bush made her visibly cringe and she looked down at the grinning yordle with a look of utmost hatred. "Awww, look at your cute little tuxedo, you look very handsome" cried Caitlyn with a squeal of delight, she picked up the rather deadly assassin as if he were a teddy bear and turned to Vi with a smile and questioned "don't you think he looks handsome?" Gritting her teeth the enforcer nodded at her partner who seemed satisfied with the response, before placing the yordle back onto the ground where he brushed himself down and giggled.

Vi's eyes narrowed at the sound of his laughter, if she had to describe it, it would be similar to a bus full of children screaming, except the bus was on fire. "I hate you" she stated in a low murmur to the still giggling yordle, he stopped for a second only to turn invisible and continued laughing at her. She growled before downing her glass of wine and striding towards the bar and getting a bottle, she knew the little shit was following her. Once she had come back to Caitlyn, who raised an eyebrow at the volume of wine the enforcer was expecting herself to drink, but continued her conversation with Heimerdinger, he was into a long diatribe about how he was still a viable champion. "...I mean the turrets are surprisingly overpowered and I have a stunning grenade as well as rockets! The only thing I'm missing is a dash of some sort, but still I'm positive that I am still a strong mid laner" he protested towards the sheriff who was nodding with empathy at his statement.

The professor's cheeks were becoming more and more ruddy as he continued to finish his whisky, Vi supposed that considering the yordle's relatively small stature and weight, it would not take long for him to get drunk. She grinned before joining in with their discussion "I hate playing against you, if I try to gank the lane you get a double kill, how does that work?" she asked while leaning over the furry creature and glaring down at him. She could not see because of the thick moustache and the overly large goggles that he wore at all times, but Vi was certain that he was smirking, he was certainly laughing when he taunted her with "don't worry, you can learn so much from failure." Caitlyn couldn't help laughing at the scowl that appeared on Vi's face in response, the enforcer was so easily goaded, it was almost unfair to tease her.

"So have you seen any other champions?" Caitlyn asked the professor whilst craning her neck to discern whether there were any other people she recognised in the main hall, continuing with "I know that Ashe and Tryndamere are here though I dare say they are besieged with offers for conversation." "Only befitting their roles as the rightful royalty of the Freljord" acknowledged Heimerdinger with a purposeful nod towards the centre of the room where Caitlyn could now see the two of them in their regal furs speaking to, of all people, her parents. Sighing she turned back to Vi and whispered "we'll grab them later, have you seen anyone else?" the enforcers face glowered and Caitlyn continued "apart from Teemo." "That's a funny way of saying Satan" murmured Vi, so low that the sheriff only just heard, she glared at the pink haired woman before turning her attention back to Heimerdinger.

"Well most of the states within Runeterra have sent a delegate of some sort tonight, if only to keep up appearances, I heard a nasty rumour that Urgot was being sent by Zaun as a joke but as of yet I have not seen him." The professor had begun to pace during his monologue which was fast becoming a lecture, the two women watched him bemusedly as he continued his speech. "The Demacian siblings are here, that duchess from Ionia, Karma I believe, is speaking to Jayce over by the bar. Some delegates from Noxus have appeared as well, though they have not been well received by many of those attending this evening." Caitlyn scowled as she hoped against hope that Katarina was not one of them, however she caught sight of a redhead moving quickly towards them, knocking people aside as she stormed over and Caitlyn's scowl deepened.

"Ha as if you got dragged here by your girlfriend" exclaimed Katarina as she grasped Vi's forearm with her hand and Vi mimicked the gesture, Caitlyn's eyes narrowed in response and the assassin laughed heartily. The enforcer grinned at the red head and stated "I didn't think I'd see you here, guess the general had the last word after all", Katarina smirked before raising her finger in an unnecessarily rude gesture and replied "yeah yeah, unfortunately Talon disappeared as soon as he heard about it and father thought that the Piltover hierarchy might take offence if he sent his snake daughter." Heimerdinger guffawed at the comment and Katarina narrowed her eyes at him before demanding some of the red wine that Vi was clutching.

After downing a third of the bottle, the assassin grinned before stating "well it's been fun, but I've gotta find Draven, he's probably passed out somewhere." Katarina turned towards Vi exclaiming "we still on for tomorrow?", when the enforcer gave a thumbs up and an exuberant 'hell yeah' the redhead waved before disappearing back into the throng of people. Caitlyn frowned at the last comment by Katarina and the implications it wrought, what were her and Vi doing tomorrow? Not like it was any of her business of course what or even who the enforcer spent her time doing but it irked her that she didn't know. She was so busy thinking that she did not hear Vi call her name, suddenly a hand waved in front of her eyes and tore her from her reverie, "hey cupcake, wanna hear something funny? Apparently Draven left with some girl ages ago and Katarina watched him! Wonder who she's going to 'find'" laughed Vi as she made quotation marks with her fingers for the last word.

"Hmm, one can only speculate" teased Caitlyn knowingly as she watched the redhead leave the main ball room and head off down a corridor that she was sure a certain broad shouldered demacian had left through only a few minutes prior. "Pleasure talking to the two of you but I've just noticed that Karma is free and I'd like to hear her opinions on whether or not I'm a viable mid laner, good day sheriff, good day enforcer" stated the somewhat sozzled yordle who meandered off in the direction of the duchess. Vi laughed as she watched him depart, she lifted the bottle to her mouth to drink from it but catching the disgruntled stare of her partner, she took great effort in pouring it into a glass as a gesture of appeasement.

"How civilised of you" commented the brunette who rolled her eyes at her partner's uncouth ways, she found it kind of sweet however that she didn't even have to say anything, Vi just knew that she wasn't impressed. Caitlyn glanced out of the corner of her eye at the enforcer who was sipping her wine and surveying the room warily, she smiled at the uncertainty in her azure eyes, it was quite endearing to see the usually confident Vi looking a bit anxious. Caitlyn finished her glass and headed towards the bar, she smiled as she heard the familiar footsteps following her, it was not difficult to get served at the bar, in fact the barmen were clamouring to serve the daughter of the host. Vi grinned as she walked away with two bottles of wine, she snickered "one for each hand cupcake" and proceeded to drink from one of them. The attempt at being civilised had been nice while it lasted, Caitlyn sighed before searching across the room for her father, she did not think he would appreciate the enforcer's behaviour.

Her dark brown eyes widened as they met a pair of similar eyes, Caitlyn couldn't help the smile that spread across her face and she leaned into the open arms of her mother for a tight embrace. "Caitlyn darling, where have you been? I've been looking all over for you, oh it's so good to see you" cried the obvious Mrs Buxton, who looked nothing at all like the sheriff, save the shade of their eyes. She also seemed to have enjoyed a fair bit of alcohol during the evening and had very red cheeks, the two women pulled apart and Caitlyn attempted to apologise but her mother had already noticed Vi and began to beam. "So you must be Vi, it's so good to meet you, Caitlyn talks about you all the time" blurted the older woman, oblivious to the mortified expression on her daughters face as well as the stare currently boring into the back of her head.

"Does she now?" commented the enforcer, whose head seemed to inflate upon hearing those words, "it's my pleasure Mrs Buxton" she continued whilst grasping the woman's hand and placing a kiss upon the back of it. "Oh you can call me Charlotte" replied the clearly flattered woman, visible from the faint blush that had spread across her cheeks, "you didn't tell me she was so charming" she called out towards her daughter. Caitlyn would have liked nothing more than to be swallowed into the ground, "I hear you're quite a hextech expert" stated Mrs Buxton whose eyes were alight with mischief as she looked back at her daughter. "Yeah I know a thing or two" claimed Vi whilst dusting herself off with her knuckles obnoxiously, "Not nearly as good as you though, didn't you kit cup-Caitlyn out with her rifle?' gushed Vi, wincing only slightly as she began to say cupcake, Mrs Buxton raised an eyebrow at the change but smiled broadly at Vi.

'Caitlyn honey, your father was asking after you, why don't you keep him company and we can talk technology?' stated Caitlyn's mother firmly, it was certainly not a question, the sheriff nodded politely and raised an eyebrow at Vi before heading towards the last location she had seen her father speaking to the other statesmen. Casting a glance over her shoulder she watched the two of them walking out towards the private balcony, she felt ashamed to feel a twinge of jealousy and scowled before downing her glass. After making another stop at the bar, this time for a bottle, courtesy be damned, she waded through the crowd stopping where needed and playing the dutifully polite host. During her search, she came across Karma and Heimerdinger in a heated argument over whether or not the latter could be a support, and she observed Cecilia attempting to flirt with a thoroughly disinterested Jayce.

Though she wanted to help save him, Caitlyn had no intention whatsoever of either speaking to Cecilia or of being seen talking to Jayce. Her father would have had a field day, he was convinced that the two of them were meant to be and often worked towards that end. Quite frequently she would attend dinners at the manor only to find Jayce also there, her father used the excuse that Jayce's own father was a close friend but she knew that he had ulterior motives. Her eyes widened as she caught sight of a very tipsy Ezreal leaning his hand against a wall that had Lux leant against it, the light mage had a prominent blush upon her cheeks and was chewing on her lip. Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at the young woman but she received a subtle shake of the head, Lux was clearly okay with whatever was going on so she continued to look for her father.

After a good ten minutes of searching, Caitlyn frowned and tutted after being unsuccessful in finding her father, he must have retired to one of his offices with a few notable guests. Roving her eye across the guests still in the main ball, the hour was late now and many had either headed home or had requested a room in the manor, she recognised that she could find neither her mother or Vi. She sincerely hoped that her mother was not embarrassing her, it had been a habit of hers in the past with any friends or dates, the only thing Caitlyn could not ascertain was which of the two her mother thought Vi was. She wasn't even sure to be honest, she knew that the enforcer was her closest friend but sometimes, and especially of late, she felt slightly more towards her.

Sighing, Caitlyn finished her glass before heading towards the bar in order to replenish, she was starting to feel thoroughly tipsy and became a touch worried about how she might act, but honestly she just wanted to find the thick headed woman first. Thanking the barman with a smile she then headed towards the balcony where her mother and Vi had left to earlier, she heard raucous laughter erupting from outside and stormed towards the adjoining door. Pushing it open, Caitlyn found Vi laughing uproariously and her mother chuckling, she raised an eyebrow at the two before the pink haired woman grinned and cried "your mum was just telling me about when you tried to solve the mystery of why you didn't have a brother or sister" before she burst into another fit of laughter.

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the comment and crossed her arms indignantly, she harrumphed before exclaiming "I believe I was eight, it was also a legitimate question.' Vi continued to chuckle and her mother was actually crying with laughter, the sheriff crossed her arms and stared at the two of them, until Mrs Buxton sighed "it was really nice talking to you Vi, I'd best get back to my other guests." Caitlyn's mother hugged the enforcer tightly then strode past Caitlyn giving her a keenly raised eyebrow and a knowing glance. The sheriff watched her leave the balcony with a perplexed expression before turning to her partner, who laughed before shrugging her shoulders and stated "your mum is amazing."

The brunette rolled her eyes and walked towards her partner, "I'm aware' she sighed whilst sipping at her glass of wine, Vi raised an eyebrow at her before questioning "no rum? Didn't you fancy it after last night?" and turned to the sheriff with a wide smirk. Caitlyn leaned in close to the enforcer and whispered into her ear "I'm ignoring that comment, just so you know." Vi felt the sheriff close to her once again and turned her face rapidly to find that their faces were only inches apart again, it was fast becoming deja vu and to be perfectly honest she wouldn't have moved for all the gold in the universe. Caitlyn could feel the enforcer's breath upon her lips and her eyes darkened in response and she chewed on her lip.

Vi felt like a deer in headlights, it was like she was observing what was happening from outside of her body, from what she could see it was a million per cent positive that Caitlyn was being flirty and that led to quite a few questions as to what she should do. Her brain was telling her that it was the alcohol making the sheriff so receptive, her heart told her to go for it and the aching from down below caused her to want to go for it. She glanced upwards and grinned at one of the snowdown decorations out on the balcony, she murmured 'hey cupcake, look mistletoe' before smiling at the brunettes shocked expression.

An orchestra of thoughts descended upon Caitlyn's mind, she checked out that there was indeed mistletoe above the two of them before biting her lip and deciding that she ought to follow tradition. The brunette gripped onto both of Vi's shoulders and leaned onto her toes, she pressed her nose against the enforcer's and whispered "I dare say we are beholden to the archaic traditions of snowdown." Vi smirked at her partner before stating breathlessly "I have no idea what the fuck you just said' before she grabbed the back of Caitlyn's head and pressed their lips together. Caitlyn could feel both the rough grip on her hair and the surprisingly warm lips of her partner, and she brought her own hand up to rest on Vi's cheek, tracing the tattoo on her face.

The two of them pressed even closer together with their bodies touching and Vi began to trace her thumb over Caitlyn's chest, feeling a hardened nub appear she received an appreciative moan. The dull aching from below was fast becoming a roaring pain that was focused entirely upon Caitlyn and how good she felt pressed against the enforcer. Vi grabbed the sheriff and pulled her closer, whilst opening her mouth to the brunette, an invite that was readily received. Vi felt herself hit the barrier wall on the balcony and still her hand roved through her partner's long brown hair and she gripped Caitlyn's hips roughly with the other. The two of them were becoming much more needy during their heated kissing and hands began to rove everywhere, Caitlyn could not honestly think of anything that had ever felt so good, and Vi was in complete euphoria, the woman she had fallen for was pressed against her and they were making out on a balcony.

"I fucking knew it!" interrupted a loud voice from the entrance door, Caitlyn glanced over her shoulder shocked at the intrusion only to find Katarina stood there with a smug smirk upon her face. The sheriff pulled away from Vi rapidly, her eyes were wide and she looked very frightened, she mumbled "I need to go, good night Vi" before she sprinted towards the entrance and disappeared from sight. The enforcer watched her leave with an extremely forlorn expression upon her face, she then turned to Katarina and screamed "why? Why the fuck would you do that?" before pinning her against a wall, her eyes ablaze. The assassin had the good grace to look embarrassed, she stated "sorry man, I didn't realise she'd run off" before glaring at Vi and pushing her off.

Vi stared at the red head but there was no real malice there, she was upset, frustrated, confused and incredibly aroused, Katarina just didn't know when to shut the fuck up. She gripped her head in her hands and sighed loudly, she would just have to speak to Caitlyn about this in the morning. For now she was too tired to deal with it, she stared out at the Piltover skyline from the balcony and then stormed past the assassin, choosing to head home and deal with whatever she was feeling in the morning. Vi proceeded to head out of the Buxton manor, as she wove through the remaining guests all she could think about was how Caitlyn had felt pressed against her and how the brunette had responded to her touch. It was a devastatingly distracting thought and she couldn't help the huge grin that spread across her face, one that lasted until much later when she was back in her own bed and fell asleep that night.


	7. Firsts

Hola Hola, thank you for your patience with the new chapter. Decided to go back in time and write the story of how our heroines met, I hope you all enjoy it, especially the person who keeps reviewing just to ask for more aha. In amazing news, this story has now surpassed 3000 views which is majestic, I'm glad that people are enjoying my work, thanks to everyone who has enjoyed it so far! Also, a massive thanks to my stalwart partner who has supported me writing by withholding food and league of legends in order to make me write more, send help. P.S. I'm joking, thank you Eleanor.

* * *

When her alarm clock didn't go off at the usual time of quarter to six in the morning, and Caitlyn awoke roughly five minutes before she was due in at the station, she knew that it was going to be a bad day. Sleepily she cracked one of her eyes open and glared at the digital display, both eyes burst open as she took note of the time and swore loudly. Thankfully because she was so organised, a pile of clothes for the day were laid out neatly on the bedside cabinet, it did not take long for her to get dressed and ready. Although it pained her it seemed that deodorant and gum would have to substitute a shower and brushing her teeth. The sheriff buttoned her blouse whilst scanning the room for her egregiously large hat, glancing down she groaned realising that her buttons were matched up incorrectly. She mumbled an angry torrent of curse words and rearranged herself before marching towards the door and slamming it shut, unbeknownst to her a framed photograph was dislodged from the wall by the force, crashing onto the floor.

On route to the station, Caitlyn's mood went from sour to completely thunderous, helped by the slow moving pedestrians blocking the pavement and the seemingly never ending parade of cars that stopped her from crossing the road in a timely manner. By the time she stormed into the police department, she was about ready to explode and was grinding her teeth painfully together. She did not see the frightened expression on the face of the officer sat at reception, who regarded the sheriff's narrowed eyes with a wary caution, he had no intention of telling her the latest news about the vigilante and watched as she stepped into the elevator and with a sigh pressed the button repeatedly before the doors closed.

Arriving on the second floor, her already prominent frown became a scowl as she regarded the officers watching her warily from their cubicles. She stopped and raised an eyebrow at the ones nearest to her and surveyed the room with an icy glare, suddenly they lost their interest and hurried back to work post haste. Before anything else could happen she stepped into her office and slammed the door, leaning against it and pressing fingers hard onto her forehead in order to try and focus, she could not believe that she was almost an hour late. Caitlyn scowled and hurried over to her desk throwing herself into the wheeled chair and almost flying across the room, she was seething now, not only was she late but it seemed that everything was trying to piss her off today.

Gripping the desk fiercely the sheriff pulled herself towards it and grabbed the pile of paperwork in her IN box, the monotony of filing might be able to help her calm down. Sighing in a futile attempt to release some frustration before reading the top report, her eyes widened and she pulled it closer to her face in order to make sure she was reading the words correctly. Groaning loudly she swore "for goodness sake!" and continued to scan through the report, it was another one about the vigilante who had been rounding up criminals in Piltover and leaving them for the police to find. To be perfectly honest Caitlyn was sick of reading about the person, whilst they clearly meant well it was obvious from the injuries on the suspects and the trail of property destruction that their vigilante was doing more harm than good.

Absent-mindedly reaching towards the phone it rang unexpectedly, she jumped initially at the sound and gripped the receiver tightly before greeting whoever was on the line with a curt "sheriff." Initially she heard nothing and frowned, then a clipped voice spoke softly "Caitlyn, I trust you've seen the report by now", the sheriff stiffened at the sound of her father's voice and nodded before realising he couldn't see her and muttered "yes father." "The vigilante damaged another property last night, belonging to a friend of mine, he is insistent that the police department do their utmost to apprehend the vigilante. I trust this is the case already?" he questioned with a serious tone, to which Caitlyn coloured out of both frustration and embarrassment. Sometimes he spoke to her in such a manner that she felt like she was eight once again and had been caught trying to sneak another biscuit, composing herself she stated "of course. In fact, I'm taking the case on personally, I will find them."

The line remained silent and she had to check that he had not hung up on her before "good. I know you will, see you Sunday" rang out from the receiver, it appeared the acerbic tone had gone and now her father just sounded tired. Before she could reply he actually did hang up, placing the phone back with a touch more force than necessary she sighed and placed her head in her hands. So far, this vigilante had been very, well vigilant about staying the hell away from the police, Caitlyn's eyes narrowed as she thought about the possible scenarios. Either, she could wait and see whether the vigilante messed up and left a clue or something, or she could head out and attempt to shake down answers from the more criminal elements in society. The latter would certainly be more fun, and more effective, with a smirk she grabbed her hat and rifle before jumping up from the chair.

Caitlyn was grinning by the time she pulled her coat on, this was why she had became a police officer in the first place, solving mysteries and apprehending criminals. She always relished an opportunity for some real detective work, it was a lot more interesting than the basket of paperwork awaiting her, glancing at it she resolved to deal with double the load tomorrow. Just as she laid a hand on the doorknob she hesitated, going out to the less savoury districts in Piltover by herself was quite dangerous, most people recognised the sheriff, quite a few wanted revenge. This hesitation lasted only a moment as she figured that if she went incognito and just happened to sit in unsavoury bars, she was positive that a plethora of tipsy men would talk her ear off, some of whom might know information about the vigilante.

The officers in the Piltover police station had two shocks in the space of fifteen minutes, not only was the profoundly punctual sheriff an hour late but she had only been in her office for a few moments before storming out once again. An officer who was feeling particularly brave called out "hey sheriff, where are you going?", Caitlyn regarded him with a raised eyebrow before stating "I'm going undercover Rollins, don't contact me unless it is an absolute emergency." As the sheriff disappeared into the elevator, Rollins glanced wide eyed at the operatives near him before shrugging and laughing, the phone rang and he answered it promptly, it had unnerved him somewhat that usually stoic woman had been grinning.

* * *

"Score!" cried Vi as she regarded the haul in front of her proudly resisting the urge to do a fist pump, she had gotten a lot of useful stuff from the captured guy. Grinning she grabbed a can of the generic energy drink and downed it, she enjoyed the buzz and quickly ate three bananas. It had been a day since she had last eaten, though to be fair she was quite used to it having grown up as an orphan in Zaun, it had only been while she had been in her old gang that food was a given. The thought caused a deep aching pang within her chest and she frowned, it had been a while since she had thought about them, gazing over at her giant gauntlets her eyes narrowed and she threw herself down onto the mattress on the floor with a sigh.

She had been really fortunate to catch the guy, Jacob Masters was what his ID said but she knew better than to believe any identification, it was way too easy to make forgeries. Not only because he had food in his bag but also because she knew that he was a particularly disgusting piece of trash, in Zaun he was known as Jam. Terrible name if you asked her, but she supposed that child traffickers didn't really care what their moniker was. Vi had met the man three times in her life, once when she was a street urchin in Zaun racing between cars and attempting to clean them hurriedly in exchange for money, she was seven and he had been very interested in her. Scowling, Vi remembered that she had hidden underneath a dumpster for three hours to escape his advances, feeling very scared she had then moved to the next city.

The second time was when Vi was thirteen and although he was still interested in her, her gang had persuaded him to leave her be by promising not to kill him if he left, she grinned as she remembered them searching for him to get him anyway but he was long gone. Now she was nineteen and had spent the previous night scouting out a property that she was certain was a trafficking midway house, there were certainly not many of those in the city of progress. Binoculars pressed to her face she had audibly gasped when she saw his face in the upstairs window, emotions overrode her as they always tended to and soon enough she had been in the house.

Vi grinned in her makeshift apartment as she remembered the look of shock on the man's face as her gauntlet had broken his cheek, the bone had snapped with a satisfying crack. He had been knocked out by the impact and was easily slung over her shoulder, then she had left through the convenient hole she had left in the side of the building, she had memorised the address and made her way to the police station. Breathing erratically in the streets of Piltover Vi recognised just how lucky she had been, there could have been other people in the house, not only that she had forgone the balaclava she usually wore. She just hoped that nobody had been able to see her face as of yet, to be fair none of them would recognise her but a pink haired woman with giant gauntlets and a body over her shoulder was bound to be memorable.

During her moonlit stroll, she had kept to quieter streets and hurried, having no desire to be arrested along with her knocked out quarry. A few streets from the station she had whistled and dropped the man onto the ground singing "whoops sorry" when she heard the crunch of his face against the concrete. After removing the goods on his person, she had withdrawn some rope from the small bag on her back and proceeded to tie him more tightly than necessary to a nearby lamppost. Wiping her forehead with the back of her hand she grinned at the sight and scrawled a hastily written note before taping it with duck tape onto his face, it read 'I LIKE TO SCREW KIDS' which was technically correct. Chuckling she had left him and headed home, more nonchalant now that she was no longer carrying what looked like a corpse, she yawned and began to jog when she caught sight of a clock which bore the time as quarter to six, it was time for bed alright.

* * *

Caitlyn scowled into her glass of rum, she did not care for the beverage but she had almost been laughed out of the pub asking for water. In fact the barman had wiped tears from his eyes and poured her the drink on the house claiming that she had made his day, how bothersome. Sniffing it derisively, she scanned the room once again hoping for some kind of change, unfortunately for her it was the same patrons as earlier, drunken tramp asleep next to a gambling machine and a group of factory workers whispering around a circular table in a corner. She had been sat in the Blue Flame for the better part of two hours and had so far literally just been sat, alternating between reading the book she had taken with her and staring into her glass of Black Pearl, oh the stuff was ghastly.

Fingering the cover to her book, she had only taken the price sticker off before entering the pub, she recognised that perhaps a romance novel was not the most intellectually stimulating but Caitlyn hoped it would inspire one of the men that were sure to be in here later view her as a vapid woman and perhaps impart some much needed information. From speaking to a few of her contacts in the seedier districts of Piltover she had learned the Blue Flame was the pub to be in if one wanted information, due in part to the large criminal element that frequented the establishment.

Sighing she flung it open and begun to read from where she had previously been, so far the dashing young gentleman had just taken the clumsy heroine on a date and it had been hideous but he was still interested of course. The sheriff shivered for dramatic effect thinking that the love interest reminded her very much of her own suitor Jayce, she hoped that the protagonist in the story managed to evade his advances before leading a successful career in law enforcement although she doubted it.

Unbeknownst to the brunette, the person she was in fact searching for had just entered and was frozen in the doorway staring perplexed at the stranger in her favourite pub, wide eyed she gestured to the barman and pointed at the woman reading a book. In response he shrugged and mouthed "uptown", Vi grinned feeling the tattoo crease on her cheek and immediately pushed the hair out of her face, attempting to smooth it once she had caught sight of the woman's face and recognised that she was stunning. She wandered over to the bar whilst keeping an eye on the attractive woman still engrossed in the book she was reading, Vi stopped at the bar and received her usual without even asking, she smirked at Tom behind the bar and whispered 'wish me luck' before walking towards the brunette.

Caitlyn had not heard the footsteps approaching as she had just gotten to a particularly dramatic scene and even though she knew it was just romantic drivel, she needed to see whether Toby was going to forgive Spencer for having a moment with the suave doctor. Suddenly a pink haired woman slid next to her with a charming smile and a glass of rum in her hand, the woman leaned over her shoulder and began to read the page she was on whispering "any good?" Caitlyn froze in place, shocked at the sudden intrusion of her personal space and looked to her side finding the woman grinning at her with a wide grin and eyes alight. The sheriff could not help noticing that not only was she clearly somewhat arrogant but also that she was, well kind of attractive, you know if androgynous and confident was your type.

Grinning to the point that it felt like Vi's face was going to split in two, she regarded the stoic woman in front of her with a raised eyebrow, she could not believe her luck today, not only had she apprehended a real piece of shit but now there was a beautiful woman in the dive bar for once. Caitlyn regarded her coolly before commenting "you're a bit close aren't you?" and narrowing her eyes at the woman only inches from her face, Vi grinned before asking "come here often?" and winking exaggeratedly. The sheriff rolled her eyes and gazed deadpan at her before stating "often enough evidently" and taking a sip of her vile rum without the slightest hesitation, she had a feeling that if she was completely sober it might be difficult to make it through the evening.

The pink haired woman grinned before stating "just so you know who's number will be in your phone this evening, the names Vi, stands for Vi-" "violating personal space, yeah I got that" finished the sheriff who eyed the grinning woman with a serious expression. Vi stared incredulously at the brunette before bursting into a raucous fit of laughter and smashing her fist against the wooden table, Caitlyn watched her silently with her eyes narrowed, this woman was not only strange but my word she was also trying on her patience. Vi wiped a tear from her eye and chuckled again, she grinned "you're feisty babe, I like that" and leaned in closer to the brunette who's face she was already only inches from. The sheriff was utterly shocked by her motions and pulled herself further from Vi exclaiming "babe?" in a high pitched tone, aghast at the all too intimate nickname.

Staring bewildered at the woman next to her, Caitlyn queried "what makes you so positive that you'll leave here with my number? I don't just hand that out you know" before sniffing derisively and returning to her book. Vi gaped at the brunette in stunned silence, she had never been rebuffed before quite so effectively, it led to the opposite effect of what Caitlyn had wanted as the pink haired woman found herself now very much interested in her. "I've been told that I'm charming" whispered Vi as she leaned in towards the brunette, resting her chin on her shoulder and nonchalantly glancing at the open page, she grinned feeling the smaller woman stiffen in response, this was too much fun. The sheriff for her part was completely uncertain of how to proceed, clearly Vi was a massive flirt and seemed very confident, her thoughts were a touch hazy as she tried to ignore the distracting warmth emanating from the places they were in contact with one another.

With a jolt Caitlyn remembered precisely why she was sat in a bilgewater dive bar with the romanticised drivel in front of her, she needed information, and she was almost positive she would be able to get some from the lech next to her. The brunette turned her face quickly towards where she could feel Vi and found their faces inches apart, feeling warm breath caused a rather prominent blush to settle on the sheriff's face as a smug grin spread across the other woman's. "Wouldn't you agree?" murmured Vi, keeping her eyes locked on the lips of the brunette, being very obvious in her intentions, Caitlyn narrowed her eyes before biting her lip as a thought came to her. "You're not from Piltover are you?" queried the sheriff glancing with satisfaction at the raised eyebrow of Vi, roving her eyes across the previously deserted pub she noted with a frown that more people were inside now, hopefully none of them were paying either of them much attention.

"Nah" stated Vi who suddenly seemed a bit uncertain, she downed the glass of rum in her hand before standing from the table suddenly and asking "want one?" with a subdued smile, Caitlyn couldn't help but notice that the pink haired woman seemed tense. The sheriff nodded in response then watched her walk towards the bar, well walk wasn't really correct, it was more of a swagger, it was also fairly entertaining, she had never seen someone who literally exuded confidence. Narrowing her eyes, Caitlyn recognised that something had set Vi on edge, it must have been when she mentioned her not being a native to Piltover, touchy subject that should be avoided then if she wanted any intel. It might be best to forgo asking any personal questions, finishing her glass she decided to get on with it.

Loud footfall interrupted her internal deliberation and Vi crashed into the seat opposite her with two rather full glasses of rum, Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her and received a big grin in response. "Thought you might loosen up a bit" whispered Vi, nudging the brunette and winking exaggeratedly, the sheriff tutted at her and took a derisive sip of her beverage, "you're definitely not from around here" she continued with a smirk. Caitlyn scowled at the comment, indignantly exclaiming "and what makes you think that?" and turning to face the arrogant woman with her eyes alight. Vi shrugged laughing at the outburst stating "bit uptight aren't we?", she chose to ignore the icy stare from the brunette before continuing "you can't get stressed about every little thing around here, you'd go crazy, you seem like the sort of person who alphabetises their kitchen cupboards."

Still chuckling at her own joke, Vi heard the other woman scoff before murmuring "well it only makes sense, why would you want baked beans next to tomato soup, I mean I know they are both tomato sauce based but..." Caitlyn looked up from her glass of rum to find Vi staring incredulously at her before bursting into laughter again and smacking her hand on the table overjoyed, the brunette visibly coloured and crossed her arms. She would not be spoken to this way by some low life criminal in a dive bar, no matter how charming or not hideous she may be, standing abruptly from her chair, she grabbed her book and stormed towards the exit. A gentle but firm hand gripped her wrist tightly and Caitlyn turned furiously to stare at the contact, Vi was still sat but was holding her around the wrist and her expression was apologetic "hey I'm sorry" she mumbled, staring earnestly into dark brown eyes.

Caitlyn remained standing, glaring at open azure eyes that seemed to be completely honest, it was so frustrating, she wanted to be mad but she was struggling to remember why with the sad look on Vi's face. Sighing loudly she sat back down and in the process of doing so extracted herself from the disturbingly pleasant grip, taking another sip of her drink she crossed her arms again and raised an eyebrow at the other woman.

"Considering you're so laid back, do you enjoy living 'around here'?" questioned Caitlyn irritation laced underneath every one of her words, it was not difficult for Vi to ascertain that the brunette was agitated. "Yeah, it's cool, I mean it's cheap and a lot of the people are okay" chattered Vi with a subdued grin "most of them anyway" at the last comment she had visibly stiffened, an action the sheriff did not miss. "Most?..." started Caitlyn, glancing at the still scowling pink haired woman, she trailed off hoping that Vi might finish the statement for her.

Silence followed instead, after a moment Vi groaned and rubbed her hand on the back of her neck, stating "yeah, most, last night I got in a fight with a real piece of shit, he was a child trafficker, even in the city of 'progress'" she placed finger parentheses around the last word and continued "you get criminals, I can't stand it when they hurt innocent people, usually I punch the shit out of them if I catch them." Finishing her monologue, Vi had punched her fist into her open palm and was grinning somewhat evilly, Caitlyn was watching her very carefully, she could see how passionate the woman was about helping people, but using violence to do so was definitely not the smartest idea. "I just yeah, I like the people in Piltover and I like living here, I'm basically your friendly neighbourhood dyke in shining armour" exclaimed Vi with a wide grin before downing her glass once again.

The sheriff rolled her eyes at the comment but she could not help grinning too, Vi was actually a lot of fun to hang out with, she dared say that working with the woman would be a hideous proposition but thankfully that was not the case. "That's clever" Caitlyn giggled unable to stop herself, a loud and obnoxious tinkling interrupted her and she quickly grabbed her phone, seeing that it was the station she glanced at Vi and shrugged apologetically before heading towards the ladies toilets. Once inside and after checking the cubicles quickly she answered with a hushed "hello", a hesitant voice responded " sheriff, I know you didn't want to be contacted but we've had a lead on the vigilante." Caitlyn's pulse quickened as the voice continued "it was the guy that was left near the station, you know the 'I LIKE TO SCREW KIDS' one, he said that he was attacked last night by someone."

Standing pressed against the cubicle door and whispering angrily into her phone, the sheriff snapped "yes, who?", there was initially silence and Caitlyn had to check that the phone call was still on, finally the voice stated "you're not going to believe me but apparently it was a woman, with pink hair, and giant gauntlets that could punch holes in walls. Really strange eh?" Caitlyn's face drained of any colour and she stared incredulously at the exit door, she whispered a hurried "yeah, thanks" before disconnecting and groaned loudly. She stared at her gaunt looking reflection in the mirror and gulped, she had to make a decision here, technically this Vi was a wanted criminal and usually the sheriff didn't deal in technicalities but something just felt off about imprisoning her. From studying her methods before even meeting and from their brief conversation, it was apparent that Vi was trying to help the police in her own way, which obviously could not continue due to the extensive property damage and medical costs.

Speaking of property damage, when her father had spoken to her earlier about his friend's property being damaged, he hadn't mentioned that a prolific child trafficker had been inside of it at the time. The thought didn't sit well with Caitlyn, her brows furrowed as she recognised that either her father didn't know or that he did know and was attempting to cover it up, she hoped it was the former but the latter was much more likely, there was little her father did not know. There would have been no reason for Vi to lie to her, for heavens sake she didn't even know the sheriff's name, she had to have been being honest. Her father must have wanted it dealt with rapidly so that the media could not turn the company of his acquaintances into a circus, hell if a statesman was in fact working with a known zaunite criminal of that caliber, it would cause quite a few political problems. Not to mention the nature of the crime, she felt sick at the thought of any trafficking occurring within Piltover, let alone children, remembering the serious expression on Vi's face when she recounted the story, Caitlyn hazarded a guess that she had a vested interest.

Realistically, Caitlyn could not allow Vi to leave and continue her vigilante behaviours, it was too costly and dangerous, the issue was what to do to get her to stop. Arresting her would absolutely lead to prison time, there were quite a few warrants for the excessive damage she had inflicted on the criminal element of Piltover, and any properties they happened to be in at the time. Her eyes widened as she recognised a solution, that would be the perfect option, she just needed Vi to agree to it, and you know, the statesman that ran Piltover, but she'd deal with them later. "Hey, you fall in?" joked the much taller woman who had just pushed open the door and stuck her head in the gap with a wide smirk and a raised eyebrow, Caitlyn could not hide the look of shock that flashed across her face. Vi frowned before entering the room and standing across from the brunette "everything alright...?...you know what I didn't actually catch your name" stated Vi quizzically with a chuckle, she glanced warily at the serious brunette, who even though it must be impossible seemed to be even more serious.

The sheriff placed her hands on her hips and stared into the mirror again, her cheeks were red, maybe she'd had too much rum, that would probably explain why the insane idea she was courting seemed perfectly legitimate. Turning towards Vi, she marched over to the door and placed herself against it, feeling the rifle press into her back she grimaced, hopefully she wouldn't have to use that but they could not leave this room without an agreement being reached. Watching bewildered Vi tried to comprehend what was happening, so far it seemed overwhelmingly positive, this attractive woman had all but locked the two of them into the bathroom and was currently pressed with her back against the door seemingly out of breath and red faced. Vi grinned before pressing an arm to the side of the other woman and leaned in close whispering "do you want to get to know each other better?" accentuating her point with a lip bite.

Even though the sheriff was distracted thinking through what she was going to talk to Vi about, she could not help feeling a strange heat coursing through her body at the close contact from the other woman. Caitlyn had never paid much attention to physical needs, finding them impediments to an otherwise focused life, relationships and displays of affection held no real interest for her, it was a strange feeling then to be embarrassed by the very forward advances. Closing her eyes to compose herself, she sighed and furrowed her eyebrows, "my name is Caitlyn" she began, Vi's nose scrunched up as if she was thinking particularly hard, she knew that name somewhere. "I'm the sheriff of Piltover, and I'm fairly certain you are the vigilante" finished the brunette, who was pressing herself even further against the door in response to the complete look of shock that registered on Vi's face.

"You're much hotter in person" murmured Vi as she stared wide eyed at the brunette pressed against the door, Caitlyn was on edge watching her warily but she rolled her eyes at the comment. This woman was truly insufferable, Vi had every reason to suspect that she was being arrested and she was still being a stubborn flirt. Suddenly her azure eyes began to scan haphazardly across the room, it was obvious she was looking for an exit but the only one was behind Caitlyn, the two stared at one another uncertain of what was going to happen next. Finally the brunette gulped and launched into the speech she had been practising in her head "Vi, you don't have many options right now. The man you apprehended last night spoke to the police and now they are looking for you. Like you said you like living in Piltover, so if you did manage to escape you would have to leave, not like you could anyway I mean I would stop you but-" she was cut off by Vi stating matter of factly "I could take you easy babe, then I'd just punch through the wall!"

The smug grin that accompanied Vi's statement seemed to melt off her face when she clenched her fists and realised that she did not in fact have her gauntlets, a scowl replaced it entirely when Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her and shook her head laughing. Dammit, she was going to have a serious word with Tony about being able to bring her gauntlets in, what did she care if there was a no weapons policy, to be fair she already had a decent set of guns. "Ha that's a good one" stated Vi to no one in particular, grinning at the thought in her head, not noticing that Caitlyn was eyeing her very unsure as the pink haired woman appeared to be having a conversation with herself. The sheriff tutted before crossing her arms and exclaiming "I know about the gauntlets but unless they are invisible it appears you don't have them right now. I dare say that unless you want to kill me, you will have to listen to me."

Vi raised an unsure eyebrow at the sheriff, and was silent before stating "I'm listening" and leaning against the wall of a cubicle with her arms crossed also. The two stared at one another for a few minutes until Caitlyn finally spoke "I can't let you continue your vigilante actions, not only is it a paperwork nightmare but also the police are now aware and they would certainly expect me to arrest you right now." Vi remained silent and continued to stare at the brunette, she had no intention of going quietly but for some reason she couldn't help but trust her, it wasn't like she had much of a choice. Caitlyn continued with "I think that you've been helping us, in your own way, and that you mean well. To be perfectly honest we could really use someone like you on the force, I suppose what I'm saying is that instead of arresting you why don't you work for me?"

The sheriff had been staring at her reflection in the large mirror while delivering her proposition and when she heard nothing from the other woman in the room, glanced over to find Vi with her eyes wide open and mouth agape. She was making an odd choking sound that could have been shocked laughter and was soon beaming "are you fucking serious!?" cried Vi, rushing over to Caitlyn and grabbed the brunette by her shoulders. "You must be joking right?" she questioned whilst shaking the sheriff and grinning wildly, this scenario was completely insane, if someone had told her this morning that the very attractive sheriff was going to offer her a role on the police force instead of being arrested or continuing to be a lone vigilante, well she would have laughed and knocked them out.

Caitlyn was shocked by both Vi's childlike exuberance and the fact she was still being shaken by the pink haired woman, stuttering she spoke "I'm s-s-serious!" before pulling herself from Vi's firm grip on her shoulders. Scowling at the still grinning woman, Caitlyn continued "you're more familiar with the criminal element in Piltover than me, I think you'd be very useful to be honest, especially considering the influx of criminals from Zaun we're dealing with. Not only that but from speaking to you earlier, I feel like you do care about what happens to this city and the people within it, which means we have a common goal." Vi stared incredulously at the brunette before bursting into a fit of laughter, wiping a tear from her eye she stated 'so you're telling me that instead of being arrested, I can work for the police, beat the shit out of criminals and get paid for it."

"Well you'll have to be a lot more responsible, fill in your fair share of paperwork, and you will have to answer to me" Caitlyn responded with a sombre expression, she wasn't sure what Vi thought of her suggestion but the fool wouldn't stop grinning so it was very likely well received. "Alright" agreed Vi with a smirk before continuing "on one condition", the sheriff sighed and raised an eyebrow in response, the pink haired woman leaned into the brunette and whispered "I don't work for anyone, I work with you. We should be partners." Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the obvious double entendre and sighed, harrumphing good naturedly at Vi she regarded the woman in front of her and the idea itself.

Due in part to being an only child, Caitlyn had never particularly enjoyed the company of others, she had certainly longed for it when she was very young but now she was quite content to spend time with herself. It would be very strange for her to work with somebody as a partner, even when she was ascending through the ranks in the police force, her superiors had never matched her with another trainee, it was well known that the Buxton heiress would respond badly. The idea of having a partner, especially one quite as brash and uncouth as Vi was a difficult one to swallow, but she supposed if it meant having her skills on the force and not behind bars, it might be worth it.

Honestly Vi knew that she was pushing her already fabulous luck by demanding to work as partners with the sheriff, she had already been offered a job doing what she loved without the risks of being arrested but she really wanted to get to know the brunette better. Although she'd heard of Caitlyn's reputation as a cold hard bitch, Vi couldn't really see it from their brief time together, though she recognised that the sheriff was quite serious, it just meant she'd have a lot of fun winding her up. "Deal" stated Caitlyn with a slight smile, interrupting the pink haired woman's internal monologue, who raised both of her eyebrows a little surprised at the sheriffs agreement and grinned widely. "Sweet!" she cried, pumping her fist into the air exuberantly, she pulled the sheriff into a tight hug and exclaimed "don't worry, I won't let you down cupcake."

"...I beg your pardon...?" the brunette whispered harshly in response, what on earth was this nickname about, pushing herself away and glaring angrily at the still grinning Vi, Caitlyn scowled and placed both her hands on her hips. "Well, don't you have those yordle traps with the cupcakes in them?" protested the much taller woman, Caitlyn frowned further and stated "yes I do, that doesn't mean you can call me cupcake, are we clear?" "Crystal clear cupcake" laughed Vi as she punched the brunette on the shoulder light heartedly and headed towards the exit door, "how about I get us another drink to celebrate?" she quipped looking back at the irritated sheriff. Caitlyn raised an eyebrow at her and stated "I can still arrest you, just so you know" to which Vi laughed and commented "yeah but trust me, you'd miss me too much" finishing with a wink. The sheriff sighed and shook her head before following her new enforcer, how on earth was she going to explain this to her father.


	8. Questions

Hello, it is I who cast the spell! Sorry I lied, I'm not orange enough to be Coco Montrese, I have no idea how to thank you guys for your patience in waiting for this chapter. You'd better hold onto your pitchforks as well until I write the next one, it's a valentines extravaganza. Again thank you to my reviewers and everyone who has followed and favourited so far, don't rescind them quite yet, I hope you enjoy this latest chapter and thanks for even reading these rambling authors notes, p.s oh my god why aren't you watching pretty little liars right now, it's like the greatest thing ever. x

* * *

"It's not my fault she's such a prude" protested Katarina in between dodging blows from the disgruntled enforcer, the redhead was sweating quite profusely as the two of them sparred in a boxing gym. She was only visiting Piltover for a few more days after attending the Buxton snowdown celebration as a delegate of both Noxus and her father General Du Couteau, until returning she intended to find out precisely what the fuck was happening between Vi and her all too serious sheriff. With a grin Katarina recognised that it had been fairly obvious when she interrupted the two of them the previous evening, you don't usually press your friends against a railing and kiss them, well she did but that wasn't the point. Vi grunted at her comment before launching into another volley of jabs and crosses, she loved boxing, a sport where you punched the other person into submission was perfect.

It also helped her to vent some of her frustrations, glancing up at the redhead who was as of yet continuing to evade Vi's blows, dammit it was like trying to catch that cursed scuttle crab, the enforcer groaned and narrowed her eyes. She knew that Katarina had done nothing wrong really, she had been as shocked by their intimacy as the two of them were, it just didn't help that her interruption had caused Caitlyn to disappear instead of continuing to make out with her. "Hey I already said I was sorry, lighten up" stated the assassin who had watched Vi's face contort into a deep frown, the two knew each other well enough that she knew the enforcer was furiously thinking about the previous evening. They had met as champions on the rift and had hit it off from the beginning, both were quite prone to using violence and didn't care what people thought of them, only to an extent of course, all human beings have some concern towards what others think about them.

Even though the two of them lived quite far from one another, whenever they did meet up it was like nothing had changed, they'd go straight back to joking with one another about either the last person they'd personally maimed or who they'd last slept with. Katarina knew that something was off months ago, it was as if Vi had completely calmed down once she had met the sheriff, although the new enforcer was all too happy to talk about her latest arrest, the conversation would immediately change tack whenever Katarina mentioned her latest conquest in the bedroom, or you know car, wherever really. The assassin was not the sort of person you could tie down and had many lovers, though she favoured Garen most of all, a devilish grin spread across her face as she thought about his rather large sword.

BANG, with a crash the redhead was knocked backwards onto the mat and landed heavily on her back, "ow" she stated ineffectually rubbing the left side of her cheek and jaw, that was definitely going to bruise. Vi appeared over her with a huge grin "you got distracted" the enforcer sang in an obnoxious voice, whilst taking her overly large boxing gloves off and extending a hand to help her fallen friend. Katarina scowled as she took it letting herself be lifted from the ground, not like she could help it, the pink haired woman was abnormally strong from lugging the heavy gauntlets she always wore and pulled her up with little effort. "I was thinking about last night" she murmured, smirking at the fearful azure eyes that widened following her comment, sighing exaggeratedly she continued "other things did happen besides you french kissing 'cupcake' just so you know...it was kind of hot though" the redhead trailed off with a lecherous smirk.

"Ow what the hell" cried Katarina as a huge boxing glove bounced off her head, the enforcer had thrown it at her with unwarranted viciousness and was now scowling at the redhead. "Sheesh you definitely didn't get any last night, you're crabby as fuck" stated the assassin with a chuckle, Vi chose to ignore the comment and proceeded to grab her kit bag and head towards the door. Looking over her shoulder the pink haired woman sighed before exclaiming "you know, I can get a drink by myself" and stormed out of the gym, Katarina rolled her eyes at the comment but recognised that she might be going a bit far. It was no secret that she did not like Caitlyn, the sheriff was hot and all but she looked miserable all the time, the appeal was completely lost on her but she supposed what mattered was that Vi liked her.

Katarina called "hey wait up" and chased after the thoroughly irritated enforcer who was stood waiting outside the entrance doors, she had known the redhead would follow. Once the assassin caught sight of Vi's scowling face she laughed and leaned into her whispering "perhaps if I talk in an uptown accent you'll be more responsive darling", when she received a disgruntled shove in response Katarina relented "I'm sorry, it's just fun teasing you, don't worry I'll cool it." Vi narrowed her eyes and grunted in response, she was silent for a moment regarding the apologetic looking redhead, it was an act of course and she knew it but as long as Katarina stopped being such a jerk she was willing to play along. "Fine" the enforcer stated whilst crossing her arms, she continued with a short "but you'd better behave yourself or I'll take you back to Noxus myself", the assassin followed her towards the Blue Flame with a grin muttering "I'd like to see you try!"

* * *

An ear splitting shriek roused Caitlyn from her fitful dreaming, she had been having a particularly horrendous nightmare about her teeth falling out, she knew that meant anxiety was plaguing her sleep as well as her waking hours and she sighed into the pillow clutched tightly in her arms. Pulling away from it she noted the dark smudge that now stained the otherwise pristine pillow, frowning she remembered flinging herself into bed when she arrived home without removing her make up, oh she was certain she probably looked ghastly now. Narrowing her eyes, she recognised the loud noise as a song and groaned both realising that Vi must have changed her alarm and at the sheer arrogance of the pink haired buffoon.

'...like a boomerang who never gives up, she flies in circles til she hits you and you're biting the dust...' glaring bleary eyed at the source of the noise she found it emanating from her phone atop the bedside cabinet and groped blindly for it desperately wishing to cease the shrieking interruption. Sweet silence greeted her as she turned off the alarm, glancing angrily at her phone she noted the dozen miscalls and flung it across the room before nuzzling back into the safety of her quilt with furrowed brows. She knew that the vast majority of those were Vi, though at least one was definitely her mother, as she'd left the previous evening in a bit of a state. To be perfectly honest she had been tipsy and terrified at what occurred on the balcony between herself and her best friend, though she hoped her mother didn't know why precisely she had been so anxious to leave the party when she bumped into her at the entrance.

Grimacing she recognised that that was probably now a hopeless hope, it was well known by those within Piltover that little occurred without the knowledge of Mr Buxton, it was true that nothing ever seemed to surprise him. It was not hard to believe that the statesman would find out about his precious heir cavorting with an ex-criminal on his own balcony, never mind the fact that they were both women, she was sure that the fallout would be spectacular. The ghost of a smile spread across her face as Caitlyn reconciled that her parents were certainly not homophobic, her mother had even set up a foundation for disadvantaged LGBT youth in Piltover with a passion for techmaturgy for goodness sake. Though she supposed it was a different matter altogether when it's your child who might possibly be gay, especially when coupled with her responsibility as the Buxton heiress and the sometimes stagnant political stances of the other slightly older statesmen in the city of 'progress.'

The sheriff frowned at her ocean coloured bedroom walls as she posed a rather difficult question to herself, was she a lesbian? It had certainly never been something she had thought about before, taking her heterosexuality as a given, like being a woman it was simply something she was. Caitlyn had to admit though that from an outsider's perspective it may have appeared that she was thoroughly asexual, having never shown interest in pursuing any sort of relationship with the parade of suitors her father arranged for her. It wasn't as if the men were unattractive and a fair few of them were in fact very nice, she just didn't feel any sort of connection with them, or oh goodness she was being sycophantically romantic now but she supposed that there had never been a spark.

With a jolt Caitlyn realised that she wasn't staring aimlessly across the room, focusing her eyes she caught sight of the framed picture of herself and Vi that she had been mindlessly fixated upon, it had been taken on the day that the enforcer had passed her already extended probationary period. Three months of her 'best behaviour' as Vi put it and she had finally been made an officer, Caitlyn grinned as she remembered the pink haired woman grasping her in a tight embrace and whispering "thanks for believing in me cupcake" after receiving her badge. The picture had been taken immediately after and Vi had slung an arm around the brunette's shoulder affectionately and was positively beaming, the sheriff was caught rolling her eyes at the gesture in the photograph but she was also grinning and though it was hard to detect, she knew there had been a slight blush across her cheeks.

The memory brought a rush of warmth to the brunette under the covers until an image of herself pressing Vi against a railing and kissing her open mouthed flashed into her mind, with a horrified moan she threw a hand over her face and attempted to sink into the mattress she was lying on. Honestly she had no idea what she had been thinking, a flush spread across her face as she remembered running her hands through the enforcer's hair and recognised that the issue was that she hadn't been thinking. Caitlyn had always felt so comfortable around Vi and now there was this, with a choked sob she burrowed further into her makeshift den and groaned loudly. There was no way she would be able to look her best friend in the eyes after their...moment, she knew that Vi was out and very proud but the sheriff didn't even know where to start. Maybe she was gay, perhaps she wasn't, it was clear to her though that she couldn't trust herself being intoxicated around Vi, considering the previous evening and the night before that.

A loud bang erupted from her front door and fear surged through Caitlyn, she couldn't handle seeing Vi right now, she might shrivel up and die from sheer embarrassment. Staying resolutely still, the sheriff waited with baited breath, hoping that the visitor would get bored and make themselves scarce, perhaps if it was Vi she would give up and Caitlyn might be able to at least attempt to organise and possibly comprehend her thoughts and feelings. The knocking resumed and she sighed loudly, each bang coincided with a painful ache in her head from the last two morning's combined hangovers, throwing back the covers she stormed over to the front door and resolved herself to just tell Vi that she didn't feel well, it wouldn't be too hard to sell, she was fairly certain that she looked like shit. Flinging the door open with a scowl, her eyes widened catching sight of her visitor and she almost swore out of shock. Mr Buxton was stood with a severe expression on his face and he raised a thin eyebrow at her appearance before sidestepping her and walking hurriedly into the apartment. Caitlyn pulled the door to and turned apprehensively to face her father who was pacing anxiously, he stopped suddenly and glared at her almost bellowing "what on earth did you think you were doing?"

* * *

"...well, you've not given me much choice have you?" contemplated Katarina, who was sat with a glass of rum in one hand, her chin was resting on the other as her eyes narrowed, tapping one finger against her lips the assassin sighed. Vi watched with a grin as Katarina continued her textbook thinking behaviour, the enforcer chuckled and took a sip from her own glass of lager, feeling a bit tender for a third day of rum. "Hmm, I suppose I would have to snog Karma, marry Ahri and kill Soraka" the red head finally answered, she raised both of her hands at the sounds of protests from her companion and continued "yeah I know, but she's like half goat, plus you know the duchess is hot, did you see her last night?...well I suppose you didn't see too much from the balcony." Silence met her statement and she laughed at Vi's stony expression before shaking her head and exclaiming "psh, Caitlyn must be having an effect on you, you're way too serious tonight."

Vi rolled her eyes at the comment and glared deadpan at the assassin who was smirking over her glass, Katarina stared back for a few moments before growing bored and giving in stating "fine, I'm sorry, I hope you're not going to be a miserable cow all night." An evil grin spread across the red heads face as she contemplated her next move "okay, so snog, marry, kill...Riven, Janna and...Caitlyn" she finished with flourish, eyeing happily the enforcer's obvious shock and displeasure at the options presented. Vi scowled in response before taking a large gulp of her pint and queried "why are you doing this?", Katarina smirked once again and shrugged, watching the pink haired woman with eyes alight, she was clearly enjoying this. The lack of response from the assassin caused Vi to sigh before replying "fine, snog Riven, marry Caitlyn and kill Janna, you happy?"

Katarina inclined her head slightly in agreement and grinned profusely "Riven's mine bitch, can I be your maid of honour, or like best man, please?" at the last word, she had thrust both hands clasped together in mock prayer towards Vi. The enforcer laughed at her theatrics before jumping up from the table and grabbing both their glasses, Katarina watched her walk towards the bar and called out "another" in an obnoxious parody of the bilgewater accent. "That's racist" the pink haired woman replied over her shoulder before greeting Tony behind the bar with a wide grin, she smiled back and asked politely "so how did the evening go?" Vi's smile subsided and Tony's maternal instincts went into overdrive as she launched into a series of questions "what happened? Are you okay hon? What did she do?" The enforcer smiled once again at how protective the bar woman was being, it was almost like having a mother, noting the serious expression on the older woman's face, Vi replied "no nothing like that, I had a great night, just at the end..."

Glaring across the bar, Tony grasped the enforcer's hand tightly and just as she opened her mouth to ask again, Vi leaned in closer and whispered "we kissed, well actually I kissed her but she kissed me back, it was pretty intense." Unable to help herself a goofy grin planted itself upon her face as she revisited the scene from last night in her head, it had happened, if Katarina hadn't seen them on the balcony then she would have believed it to be a pretty realistic dream. "Awww hon, that's great!" interrupted Tony enthusiastically as she regarded the ecstatic grin on Vi's face, a sombre one replaced it as she stated "yeah but that idiot over there interrupted us and Caitlyn ran off...I've tried calling her but she hasn't replied yet." The forlorn expression on her face caused Tony's heart to ache, she had gotten to know the young woman pretty well over the last year or so and she genuinely wanted her to be happy.

"Look, don't worry, I'm sure she's probably still asleep and all that fool over there did was spook her a little" murmured Tony towards the still dejected looking enforcer, rubbing her shoulder the older woman grinned before shouting over the bar at the red head watching them "I thought assassins were supposed to be sneaky." Katarina burst into laughter at the comment and replied amicably "I thought barkeeps were supposed to get me a drink" she sauntered over the bar and grinned at Tony, who was glaring at the assassin. She rolled her eyes at the older woman and stated "I couldn't help myself, it was so surprising, of all the things I thought I'd see last night, the sheriff pressing my best _female_ friend against a railing and making out with her was like, I don't know somewhere near the bottom."

Raising an eyebrow at the red heads comment, Vi replied "well there were lots of surprises last night, Draven left hours before you went to go find him", the red heads glass stopped halfway towards her mouth as she froze at being caught out. Shrugging she stated "I wanted some fun", straight away Vi responded with "yeah but at the Buxton manor, where did you even go?" The assassin arched an eyebrow at the both of them watching her and grinned "lots of empty rooms in that place, besides I hadn't seen Garen in months, I mean I've had more than enough to keep myself entertained but who doesn't love a big sword...OW!" Tony had smacked Katarina with a rag at the sexual innuendo and she was still clutching her cheek indignantly even though all three of them knew that there was nowhere near enough force to warrant such a reaction.

"You're so dramatic I swear" laughed the enforcer as Katarina turned her scowl towards her, the assassin stared deadpan at her friend and stated "says you, Caitlyn was all over you last night and you're too scared to go talk to her." Vi's face darkened and she replied petulantly "am not, just, she's obviously asleep, besides what would I even say to her?" Katarina feigned an expression of deep concentration and made an exaggerated "hmm" before continuing "do you mind if I face check your bushes?" Vi honestly felt as if her eyes would roll into the back of her head as she forcefully ignored the idiotic statement, placing both of her hands over her eyes she groaned and sank into a bar stool. Tony rubbed her shoulder soothingly and raised an eyebrow at the beaming assassin, exclaiming "you're not being a great friend here."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry, It's just way too much fun teasing you" relented Katarina, holding both hands up in apology "just I don't think I've ever seen you care about someone so much, I mean obviously there's me but I'm amazing." "It's a good thing you're not arrogant" replied Vi with a smirk, the red head ignored her and continued "regardless, I just think that of all the women you had to fall for, you just had to pick a straight one, one who also happens to be your boss and whose father pretty much runs the city. You don't make things easy for yourself is all I can say." Tony had been listening carefully to the assassin's monologue and watched as Vi's brows furrowed at the long list of issues, the older woman stated "you didn't see her the other night, she was pulling Vi on top of her over there, she doesn't seem very straight to me" and the tension suddenly abated as the two champions burst into laughter and Katarina even had to wipe a tear from her eye.

"You're right Tony" murmured the grinning enforcer, whose cheeks were now ruddy from the good hour or two she'd spent drinking with Katarina. She turned to face both of them and was now beaming "she's not very straight is she? I need to find out though, I'm going to ask her out." Running back to the table, Vi grabbed her jacket and stormed up to the bar, Katarina giggled at her as the pink haired woman downed the rest of her pint and stated "wish me luck guys" before hurriedly leaving the bar and almost tearing the entrance door of its hinges. Tony and Katarina watched her leave and then turned to each other with a grin, the older woman queried "what do you think will happen?" and the redhead shrugged in response before exclaiming "fucked if I know, they're either going to delay the inevitable even longer or Vi might even be able to get into the prude's bed. My money's on delaying the inevitable, if that sheriff couldn't see that Vi was completely in love with her last night. She certainly won't now."

* * *

Caitlyn stood frozen as she watched her father continuing to pace whilst berating her, after his initial outburst he was still muttering angrily and his face was almost maroon, he almost spat his next statement. "I can't believe it, and to hear it from Suri no less, thank goodness it wasn't anyone of political importance. You don't even tell your mother and I that you are gay, I mean we could have done some damage control but like this, Caitlyn you were raised better than this!" The brunette was gaping at her father's increasingly unhinged behaviour and watched him incredulously as he continued his monologue whilst pacing quicker. "Honestly Caitlyn I need to know, why her? Priscilla Hyde is a lesbian and her father is the CEO of HexCorp, after the elections I could have set up a date for you or something. That hoodlum you elected into the police force has no political stock, she won't raise this families image only tarnish it. You know that tensions with Zaun are at all time high and the people of Piltover don't need to see the sheriff bedding a Zaunite ex criminal!"

The brunette gazed at her father wide eyed as he finished his diatribe, he was wheezing and still red faced as he awaited her response with his arms crossed, she had absolutely no idea what to say and her mind drew a complete blank. She couldn't very well say that she loved Vi and that was what was happening, could she? Caitlyn didn't even know if that was the case, maybe she was just drunk and flirty, maybe she wasn't actually gay, just oh for goodness sake, maybe she was just 'Visexual'. Internally groaning at the term Vi had used before to explain the plethora of 'straight' women that were always interested in the brash enforcer, she sighed as she realised that maybe she was one of them. The enforcer was her best friend and though her father did have a problem with their being friends and partners, it was nothing compared to this reaction after he found out about their intimate moment. Caitlyn scowled as she remembered him stating that it was Suri that told him, she had always know that the housekeeper was employed primarily to spy on her as a child, it appeared that she was still being watched as an adult.

"I'm waiting, please tell me it's not true or that it meant nothing, I'm not joking when I tell you that my job will be on the line, the election is in three weeks Caitlyn. Three weeks, more than enough time for such a political scandal to derail my whole platform, for what?" Her father was now grabbing both of her shoulders and gazed earnestly into her wide eyes, she could see that he was terrified of the ramifications, not necessarily of having a gay daughter, though that would certainly raise a few eyebrows among the more conservative elements within Piltover. More so that Vi had been part of a criminal gang in Zaun and only recently a vigilante in Piltover, even when she had became an officer, the enforcer was still prone to rashes of property damage. Caitlyn knew that she was only trying to do her job and that in her own heavy handed way she was, but that didn't help the property owners within Piltover from having a particularly negative reaction towards anything to do with the enforcer.

With a sigh Caitlyn realised that the bulk of those who owned property in Piltover belonged to the political elite and that if she was seen to be in any way shape or form intimate with Vi, she knew that her father would lose the votes necessary to be re-elected as a statesman. Chewing her lip she mulled over what to say and finally blurted "I don't know what to say, I just, yes we kissed last night" the brunette lowered her head in an attempt to ignore what she assumed would be her father's furious face. She was surprised when he lifted her chin up and she looked into his own wide eyes "don't look down Caitlyn, you know you could never disappoint me. Neither your mother or I think anything is wrong about the way you feel..." The sheriff interrupted "that's just the thing, I don't know how I feel, I mean I feel so comfortable around Vi, she's my best friend, and she's charming and funny, but I don't know whether I am...you know."

Her father's face hardened and he clarified "I meant that we have no problems with you being gay, the same cannot be said about your relationship with this Zaunite trash. Just please I am telling you as your father, that unless you no longer wish to have an enforcer, it would be best for you to keep your interactions with Vi to a minimum." Caitlyn actually gasped in shock and she felt so pathetic for doing so but could not help it, she stared angrily at her father and almost whispered "are you threatening me?", he sniffed derisively and stated "it's for your own good Caitlyn, your mother agrees."

Bristling she rebutted "don't lie to me, mum met Vi last night and she adored her, if you want me to be honest with you maybe you should try it first." She was shocked once again by the fierce grip he exerted upon her arm, glaring bewildered at her father she demanded "get off me" and he pulled her closer stating "I am not going to let my daughter ruin her life over some ex criminal, do you have any idea what this will do to your reputation? My reputation? I will repeat myself one more time. Caitlyn if you do not follow my advice, there will be no more need for an enforcer, I can assure you that when the funding for the police department comes up in discussion, jobs will have to be cut and I will personally make sure that hers is one of them..."

"You wouldn't" she stated completely appalled by his egregious threat, he grimaced and tightened the already vice like grip on her arm before replying "I would do anything to protect you Caitlyn, don't try me. If you care about this Vi and you want her to keep her job, you will follow my advice, you will keep this woman at arms length and so help me if I find out that you haven't listened to a word I've said. Then someone will be on the next shuttle back to Zaun with the rest of the garbage." A tense silence followed his declaration and Caitlyn finally pulled her arm free of his grasp, where she eyed the dark bruise that had spread across her forearm. She almost slapped him but managed to reign herself in, that would prove nothing, he had all the power in this situation, an ache lodged deep in her chest as she thought about what this meant.

Vi loved Piltover, everything about it, especially her job, she was elated everyday to catch bad guys and not be chased by the police herself and even though she enjoyed paperwork far less, she always did a sizeable chunk. Caitlyn knew that losing her role as the enforcer would break her, hopefully losing her best friend would hurt less, resolving herself she unhappily grunted "fine" at her father and stormed towards the door, just as she was about to fling it open and respectfully request her father get the fuck out, a loud knock erupted from it. "Hey cupcake, are you asleep? I wanted to see you, I brought nice tea. Well fancy tea, I'm not sure whether it's nice but maybe it is. Hey cupcake" the knocking began anew as a chill ran down Caitlyn's spine, oh for goodness sake she was not ready for this, Vi sounded tipsy from outside the door and with a groan she remembered that Katarina and Vi had been hanging out today. There was little chance that at three in the afternoon the enforcer was not drunk, grimacing she regarded the door and following a prompt from her father in the form of a tight grip on her shoulder she called out "hey give me a minute."

Mr Buxton regarded her with an icy glare, he murmured "I'll be listening, if you don't keep your relationship civil and nothing beyond than you know what will happen." Caitlyn was honestly surprised by this side of her father, she had heard from others in Piltover that he was a ruthless man who managed his career in politics as effectively as anything else he did. The threats and the still stinging bruise on her right forearm however served as painful reminders that her father was scared and fully prepared to remove Vi from her life if she didn't do it herself. Sighing she shooed him away from the door and pulled it open quickly stepping outside and pulling it to after, looking up with her back pressed against the door she met the huge grin of her pink haired partner, who was beaming down at her.

"Hey cupcake, how you feeling? I brought you something to hydrate ya, figured you might need it after last night" Vi exclaimed with a wide smile, she regarded the serious looking woman in front of her and wrongly assumed it was because she had just woke her up. "Sorry, I just got worried when you didn't get any of my messages" she continued, grinning at the disheveled looking brunette in her, Caitlyn looked adorable when she'd just gotten out of bed, evidenced by the previous morning and this one. "I did get them" she stated tonelessly, the grin subsided a little off Vi's face but she replied effortlessly "no worries then. Are you free today, I thought maybe we could hang out, maybe catch a movie or something?" Caitlyn's heart ached as she realised that Vi was asking her on a date, and though she wanted to hang out with her best friend, she didn't know how she felt about it being a date. Let alone the fact that her father was likely pressed against the door and listening to every word, the thought sent a rush of indignation through her and her face coloured in anger, Vi caught it but presumed erroneously that it was a blush.

With baited breath, Vi stepped closer to the brunette and leaned in to murmur "it's okay if you're nervous, I'm pretty nervous too" then she laughed slightly before pulling back and handing Caitlyn one of the to go cups in her hand with a flourish. "So what do you think?" queried Vi hesitantly as she watched the stoic sheriff stare at the hallway carpet, Caitlyn closed her eyes and tried to mentally prepare herself for breaking her best friend's heart. "I can't" she stated finally, the enforcer attempted to recover by suggesting "okay, what about tomorrow? Or Tuesday? Any time you're free is fine really, we've got a few weeks off remember." "No" whispered the brunette, "I need some time alone Vi." It was almost as if Caitlyn could literally see Vi's heart shatter in her chest, the pained expression on her face made the sheriff feel like a complete monster. The two stared at one another until the enforcer muttered "what's wrong cupcake?" whilst attempting to grasp onto the smaller woman's shoulders.

Caitlyn continued her staring contest with the diamond pattern on the floor, she was trying her damnedest to avoid looking at her heartbroken partner, she knew that if she did then she might just recant her previous statement and then Vi would no longer have a job or a place in Piltover. "I can't talk about this right now" she finally blurted before flinging the door behind her open and disappearing behind it. She remained holding the doorknob on the other side and pressed her head against the door, listening to the faint quiet of the hallway outside for a few moments. Tears spilled down her face as she heard the dejected woman shuffle away from the door until an all encompassing silence returned.

Beginning to unabashedly sob, Caitlyn realised that Vi was never going to forgive her for this, she had lead the enforcer on and she didn't even know what she was feeling, she knew she cared about the pink haired woman that's why she had to protect her. Vi had never been the sort of person to give up, but she had opened herself up to the brunette and had her advances coldly rebuffed, that's why she had left without a word. From behind her father coughed and she attempted to stifle the tears that were now streaming down her face, opening the door again she motioned for him to leave without a word and with a parting comment of "it's what's best for you" he left. Closing it once again, the sheriff allowed herself to collapse against the door and couldn't help the sobs that racked her body.


	9. Do You Even Rift

For heavens sake someone save me from Pretty Little Liars, it's so good I can't stop watching it, I tore myself from adorable Paige/Emily goodness to write this next chapter, it got too long so it's now going to be a two maybe even three parter. Never fear the valentines shenanigans are coming, I'm fairly excited to write it so yeah, I just uploaded this part early because I know a lot of people were upset with how I ended the last chapter but it's necessary ya'know, lesbians don't exist without drama, I know this you know this. Trust me it will be worth it, maybe, I don't even know. I hope you enjoy this hot mess and obviously if you do then make sure to leave a favourite or a follow and especially reviews, they are like crack to me (say crack again)

* * *

"I do hope we might get a gank at some point in the near future...you know before I die of old age" Caitlyn murmured unhappily to her laning partner as she continued to last hit the wave of minions mindlessly throwing themselves against the tower she was stood underneath. The sheriff was glad of any slight reprieve from her enemy bottom laners, who had been unusually forceful this match, the only reason that she hadn't died quite so many times was her support Soraka who was doing her best to keep the both of them alive. This was the only fortunate part of this match however, it was almost certain that the remainder of her team felt no desire to keep the brunette alive, rules of league be damned. The silence was becoming a bit too eerie now though, Caitlyn quickly tapped the intercom on her headset and stated "enemies are missing" before bringing up the map as a hologram on her wrist band.

Eyeing it warily, she found that she could see each of the other lanes in combat with one another, so at least an all out attack wasn't approaching, her eyes narrowed at a quick blip of red that passed by one of their wards by the dragon pit. Caitlyn had turned to pursue the missing enemy when a soft voice called "I do not think that is a good decision", sighing she turned to face Soraka who had raised an eyebrow at the brunette and stood with arms crossed. "C'mon, I need some kills, they must be out of position so it's definitely worth the risk" the sheriff pleaded with her skeptical laning partner, who finally nodded in agreement but not without an expression of long suffering upon her face. Grinning she stormed off towards the dragon pit with the star child shuffling after her, quietly the two of them stalked through the brush and leaned against the wall adjoining the pit, Caitlyn paused to check the map once again and found she could still not see her enemy laners, or their jungler.

"Perhaps we should ask for assistance?" Soraka queried hesitantly, eyeing the map nervously and regarding Caitlyn with concern after her comment caused the stoic sheriff to stiffen noticeably. "No" she replied firmly, continuing her pursuit, the star child rolled her eyes and threw a ward beyond the wall they were leaning against and into the dragon pit. "Bollocks" stated Caitlyn tonelessly, surprised to see the majority of the enemy team facing against the dragon, the ward they had just placed obviously caused the same reaction amongst them as both Leona and Vayne hurried from the pit. Unfortunately the buff was on such low health that Jax easily smites it before jumping over the wall and attempting to ambush the both of them. He was particularly strong and though her partner silenced him quickly, against Caitlyn's wishes Soraka pressed her intercom and called for assistance.

It was a case of too little too late however as the enemy mid laner appeared and Caitlyn found herself charmed into walking towards both Jax and Ahri and within seconds she was dead, shortly followed by Soraka. The two of them reappeared at their fountain and while they waited to re-spawn, Caitlyn scowled as she realised that two members of her team had been close to where she had been ambushed and had not responded to the call for assistance. Sighing angrily she spat into her headset "thanks for the help guys, really appreciate it" while perusing the shop for items she could now afford, a sickly sweet voice responded "no problem _cupcake_ " and an obnoxious laugh followed it. Scowling further at Katarina's comment, the sheriff groaned and pressed her fingers against her forehead attempting to alleviate the migraine that was sure to manifest.

It had been two months since the snowdown celebration and all that had occurred around it, obviously Vi had been incredibly hurt by her cold rejection and had not spoken to her for a few days afterwards. Though the enforcer presumed this was enough time for her to decide what she wanted, the truth of the matter was that Caitlyn still had no idea how she felt and due to her father's threats, she knew she had to keep her distance from the pink haired woman, at least until the election was over. Unfortunately for the sheriff, Vi had always been quite thick-headed and struggled to deal with the silence, after four days had passed from their moment in the hallway, the enforcer had appeared at Caitlyn's door and attempted to speak to the brunette. She did this everyday for a week, as well as trying to text and call the sheriff, hell, Vi had even sent her an email and a letter. Each fresh attempt at communication chipped away at Caitlyn and she honestly struggled to not just reply, if she was feeling hurt by the desperation laced into every new correspondence, that was only a mere shadow of how Vi must be feeling.

The problem was the signature underneath every text and email, it was her fathers way of letting her know that he had seen the message and was well aware of any replies she might make. For goodness sake the letter that Vi had sent had even been carefully resealed after he had obviously read and signed the bottom of it, Caitlyn was feeling completely trapped and she didn't know what to do. Obviously if anyone else was treating her this way or being this controlling, it was a fair shout that she would have shot them in the face, or at least brought it to the police's attention. She had even tried to contact her mother, she was certain that her mum liked Vi and would have been aghast to know the extent to which her husband was threatening both herself and the enforcer. Every time that she had been able to speak to her mother however, she was with Mr Buxton due in part to their campaigning for his statesman position and Caitlyn was all too aware of the more insidious reason that her father did not want her speaking to her mother in private.

So Caitlyn had ignored Vi, she had not responded to anything at all, via any means of communication and had sat in her apartment and binge watched entire seasons of television shows in her pyjamas. Ordering in unhealthy foods and using the near entirety of her tissues when she felt the all consuming urge to weep once again, it had been so hard cutting out her best friend but at least she knew why she was doing it. Vi had no fucking idea why the brunette had ceased speaking to her and she knew that it must have been killing the enforcer, after a week of no response, she had stopped coming to Caitlyn's apartment or sending any sort of message. That had really hurt, Vi had never been the sort of person to give up and for her to do so must have meant she was heartbroken, the sheriff knew that after the election she would be able to speak to her again, remaining civil of course. However, she suspected that her best friend would no longer wish to speak to her after silence for three weeks, a suspicion that was completely warranted and transpired to be totally correct.

Once her father had been re-elected as a statesman,minutes after really, Caitlyn had sent Vi a tentative message after two weeks of no contact, asking whether the two of them could meet. She had no reply initially and hours later when she heard her phone ping the answer was a picture message from Katarina that was of Vi's couch titled "go fuck yourself." Caitlyn was not surprised and had known of course that the assassin would have stayed in Piltover longer than she ought to have been, primarily in order to look after her friend who had just been thoroughly heartbroken. The violent redhead had never liked the sheriff and now Caitlyn was positive that she absolutely detested her, the captioned message only proved it for her. The issue was how the two of them were supposed to work together in the police department, though on their first day back after the holidays Caitlyn was surprised and honestly quite hurt when Vi didn't utter a single word to her, unless in response to a direct question.

The curt and oh so civil manner that the enforcer was using with her was driving her insane, she wanted Vi to be mad or upset or just to be anything really besides this emotionless robot. It was apparent to anyone with even the most rudimentary understanding of the two that something was wrong though none of Piltover's finest fancied a hideous and untimely death so it was not mentioned, at least to the sheriff's face, though Caitlyn was aware of their gossip. The real problem was their interactions on the rift, unlike their colleagues at the station, the other champions had no problem asking the two of them what was wrong and making loud observations about the state of their relationship. Caitlyn physically cringed at the memory of Leona pulling her aside earlier that morning and having a frank discussion with her about how even after months together, she and Diana still had pretty severe fights but the longer they went without speaking the harder it would be to forgive one another.

"They're almost in our base _cupcake_ , get a grip" snarled a furious voice that was accentuated by a forceful shove that left Caitlyn falling to the ground with a painful groan, bringing her back to the current reality with a crash. Glaring after the retreating redhead she scowled and pushed to press herself up from the ground, before she could however she felt powerful hands gripping gently onto her waist and she soon found herself upright once again. With a gulp the sheriff steeled herself into turning around to face the owner of the gauntlets she could recognise anywhere, before she could summon whatever courage remained deep within she felt the unmistakable breeze that accompanied her partner storming from the fountain and her eyes burst open, she had not even realised that they were closed. "Caitlyn we must help them" murmured Soraka softly at her side and with a jolt the brunette noticed that the rest of her team were engaged in a fierce effort to protect one of their inner turrets from the entirety of the enemy champions.

Caitlyn cursed loudly and ran towards the raucous just in time to turn the tide of battle, Vi had used her ultimate upon Ahri who was attempting to escape after being caught shamefully out of position and the sheriff relished using her own to finish the elusive fox. Pleased with the kill she had just acquired, she turned to her enforcer with a wide grin only to find the pink haired woman offer her a thin imitation of her usual enthusiastic grin, the sight caused a deep ache within Caitlyn's chest and she sighed sadly before following the rest of her team in chasing the opponents currently on low health attempting to flee through the brush. The two of them were racing ahead in hot pursuit of Vayne, who for some reason had went for the glass cannon build and was certain to implode once Vi caught up to her. As they stormed head first into an unwarded brush however a tiny yordle with a very large hammer surprised them and flung them halfway across the map in a matter of seconds.

Whist airborne the sheriff watched wide eyed as the two of them flew over and away from the remainder of their team and all of a sudden she found herself crashing into the ground with a loud "oomph." It took a minute to register that the brunette was not pressed against the hard ground and instead lay upon something soft and strangely warm, afraid of what she might find Caitlyn hesitantly opened her eyes. They widened further as she registered the bright azure eyes that were now locked upon her own, all thoughts seemed to flee from her in that moment as she finally registered that not only was she inches from Vi's face but that she was also on top of the enforcer. An expression of shock was written across the pink haired woman's face as she stared into the chocolate orbs of the woman she cared so deeply about, this was the first time they had been close to one another in months, ever since...

The thought seemed to rouse Vi from her self imposed stagnancy and unbeknownst to her, a fearful frown flashed across her face, she could feel tears burning at the corners of her eyes and grimacing she resigned herself to getting a grip. The brunette that was clumsily atop her did not however miss the pained expression on the enforcer's face and incorrectly presumed that it was to do with her weight bearing down upon Vi, she could definitely feel that her knee was pressing hard into what must be a fleshy thigh. It was impossible for the sheriff to formulate a coherent thought in that moment however and though she willed her legs to start working again all she could manage was getting the offending knee to move a few inches to the right. In doing so however she inadvertently found herself straddling the pink haired woman now attempting to remember how to breathe as she felt Caitlyn's thighs pressing against the outer side of her own.

Staring transfixed into the frightened eyes of her partner, a thought flashed through Caitlyn's mind and she grinned unable to help herself, it was certainly strange that they kept meeting like this. In following her father's wishes in remaining far from the enforcer, she had had a lot of time to consider her feelings, she had just chosen not to because the thought of it was fucking terrifying. Even if she was gay, which was an idea followed by a considerably large question mark, it was even scarier considering how such an admission would affect her relationship with Vi, let alone dealing with any feelings to do with the brash and unabashedly charming woman she was now straddling. Though a lot of the bigger issues seemed to float away from her as she glanced between the bright blue eyes and the slightly parted mouth of the enforcer, pondering only whether Vi had always had such nice lips.

Though it felt like hours passed with the two of them frozen staring at one another, it was more a number of seconds, each one Vi felt passing agonisingly slow. Honestly at this rate she was going to have to get Caitlyn checked out for bipolar disorder or even schizophrenia, maybe there was a sexy sane version of the sheriff that had been cloned, possibly even a robot hard-wired to drive her insane with every calculated touch. Vi struggled to reconcile the attractive brunette currently pressed against her with the cold one who had disregarded her very presence not so long ago and then not spoken to her for weeks. Grimacing, she furrowed her brows at the sheriff and sighed, attempting to move herself from under Caitlyn and turned her head away from the probing brown eyes, "I'm sorry" a soft voice murmured, so quietly it was hard for Vi to hear her over the roaring in her ears. Eyeing the brunette warily, she was surprised to find a tear tracing the contours of her cheek, the admission of apology and subsequent emotional display caused a rush of warmth into Vi's chest.

"I'm sorry" Caitlyn repeated staring forcefully into the wide azure eyes beneath her, whilst attempting to contain the rush of emotion that threatened to herald the tears she was struggling to keep from pouring down her face. "I didn't mean to hurt you, I really care about you Vi and I've missed you...so much" the sheriff continued at a loss for why she couldn't stop the torrent of words fumbling from her mouth. The enforcer watched dumbfounded as Caitlyn sniffed sorrowfully and wrapped both of her arms around Vi's neck, burying her face in the crook of her neck. Initially she was frozen at the new turn of events but she could never really stay mad at the brunette, especially not when she behaved this vulnerable, almost unconsciously she returned the embrace, wrapping her arms around the upper back of the sheriff and squeezing her slightly.

"Can we just go back to normal?" sighed the brunette, and as Vi felt warm breath and lips ghosting across the taut flesh of her neck, she was ready to agree to whatever Caitlyn had just said. Nodding in place of any words, she did not trust her mouth or her mind at that moment, Vi hugged her tightly and grinned for the first time in a few weeks. As Caitlyn begun to pull away and lift herself from upon her all too comfortable perch, Vi couldn't help herself and in an attempt to get back to normal she murmured "just can't help falling for me can you?" with an exaggerated wink. The sheriff rolled her eyes in response and swatted at the pink haired woman now leaning up from the ground with both elbows pressed against the floor, trying to ignore the way her heart had leapt into her throat at both the flirtatious manner she had just been spoken to and also the comment itself. "You're insufferable" the now upright woman stated as she extended a hand to the still grinning fool on the ground, Vi accepted it gratefully and soon the both of them were stood smiling at the other.

"Can you two have sex later?" snapped a young dark skinned man as he sprinted past the two of them, Vi scowled after him and turned to Caitlyn with an apologetic shrug, "I suppose we had best get back to the match" stated the sheriff with a slight smile. "Catch ya later cupcake" called the retreating pink haired woman over her shoulder as she followed Ekko in heading towards the top lane. Caitlyn watched her go with a grin before checking the map and turning towards where Soraka was valiantly attempting to protect one of their turrets in the base with her bananas. With a crash, she realised that she had just collided with a team mate, snapping her head up to apologise, she met dangerously narrowed mossy eyes. "What do you think you're doing?" Katarina furiously whispered, the redhead pressed Caitlyn against a nearby wall with more force than was necessary and stared angrily at her.

Indignantly the sheriff responded with a derisive sniff and stated "what are you on about?" with an all too practiced indifference she found herself using regularly with the Noxian assassin. Katarina narrowed her eyes further at the brunette and flicked one of her blades upwards and pressed it against the hollow of Caitlyn's throat. For her part the sheriff remained stoic and simply raised an eyebrow at her barely concealed threat, glaring back at the scowling redhead. "No really, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" spat Katarina as she pressed the blade closer into her neck, "you just cut her out of your life like she means nothing and as soon as you bat your eyes at her, all is forgiven?" Caitlyn remained glaring angrily at the other woman but she did not say anything, it was almost as if the redhead was channeling her sister and exuding poison from her very pores, the absolute venom in her glare was enough to make the sheriff grimace.

"If you hurt her again I swear...consider this a warning, maybe Vi wants to forgive you but I fucking don't" whispered Katarina into the brunette's ear before pulling both herself and her blade far from the still glaring sheriff, and taking off at a run to help a now frantic Soraka defend an inhibitor from the entirety of the enemy team. Taking a moment to compose herself Caitlyn watched the redhead disappear from sight before recalling and attempting to defend what was left of their base. It was however a lost cause as the brunette was the only surviving member of her team who was watching from the fountain as their nexus fell, with a sigh the sheriff waited to be disconnected from their virtual reality and with a crash she found herself once again in the summoner's hall. Blinking rapidly she grinned at the sight of Vi stood in front of her, with her flushed cheeks and rather messy hair, she had to admit that the enforcer looked thoroughly adorable.

Over Vi's shoulder however she caught sight of a fiercely protective glare as Katarina regarded the two of them with furrowed brows, to be honest as much as Caitlyn did not like the uncouth assassin she knew that deep down Katarina had every reason to hate her right now. She had truly hurt the enforcer, and even now neither of them knew precisely why the sheriff had cut off communication so coldly, "hey good game" interrupted a cheery voice into her internal reflections, glancing to her right she regarded Leona with a smile. The redhead looked truly radiant as she surveyed the two officers with raised eyebrows and a beaming grin, she nudged the sheriff jovially and stated "glad you took my advice" before winking and heading towards the cafeteria. Vi raised her own eyebrow at the statement and turned to the sheriff with a questioning smile, Caitlyn just shrugged in response before chewing on her lip and asking hesitantly "so are we okay?"

Instead of replying Vi stepped forward and placed both of her arms around Caitlyn's shoulders pulling her into a tight embrace. The sheriff snuggled further into her arms and berated herself for being so foolish in attempting to stay away from her very comfy and all too forgiving best friend. As she pulled away from the hug, Vi noticed that the rest of the champions from their previous match were still stood around watching the two of them, raising an eyebrow at the group she caught sight of the deep frown on Katarina's face and attempted to walk towards her but the assassin was all too quick and disappeared from sight. Furrowing her brows at the space Katarina used to occupy she heard Caitlyn harrumph quite loudly and watched as she placed both of her hands on her hips, staring at the still lingering champions. Ahri giggled at the sheriff's expression before stating "I am glad you are no longer fighting" and as she sashayed away from the pair, Ekko walked alongside her and called over his shoulder "don't let us stop you from kissing and making up."

A chorus of laughter followed the retreating champions as the two of them stood watching them walk away, after a time Vi turned to the brunette with a smile and queried "so, got any plans for tonight?" Caitlyn replied almost instantaneously with a shy smile and a shake of her head, this made the enforcer's grin almost triple in size before she stated "well, I know it might be a bit _presumptuous_ due to the date but why don't we hang out tonight, we can order in and watch movies, you know, as friends?" The nervous energy that had existed between the two prior to the snowdown celebration seemed to be back in full force and Vi was rubbing her hand on the back of her neck as if to reassure herself. It wouldn't be so bad if she was turned down for a friendly hang out, nothing like a date obviously, despite it being Valentines day, just a friendly evening. Caitlyn chuckled at the sight of Vi's anxious effort to reassure herself, it had been a welcome and sorely missed sight, narrowing her eyes at the enforcer she quickly queried "presumptuous? Has someone been using their thesaurus?"

She was well aware that her tone could possibly be misconstrued as flirtatious but resolved herself that it was still a civil manner she was speaking to her partner in, this was just how they spoke to one another, surely her father would see that. Remembering her father's promise about the frailty of Vi's career in the police sobered her up slightly from the slight dizziness she always felt around the pink haired woman. She knew that there had been other promises she had had to make her father but right now Caitlyn wished she could just act like the young woman she was and get excited about the prospect of hanging out with her friend. Vi was still stood awaiting a reply and held her hands out in a gesture of surrender and laughed "yeah, I wanted to improve my _lexicon_ ya'know", the brunette rolled her eyes at the statement. She was just going to have to deal with her father at a later date, she was certain that once her mother knew about their pink haired issue that the matter would be all but resolved, well hopefully. Biting her lip playfully Caitlyn finally replied "yeah, lets hang out later, lets go out for dinner though, might be nice" with a wide smile, she took note of Vi's bewildered expression and frowned at her.

"It's gonna be hard to get a table though, I mean it is valentines day" stated the enforcer hesitantly as she eyed the brunette warily, Caitlyn's jaw had all but hit the floor and she had groaned rather loudly smacking her palm flat against her forehead. How could she have been so stupid, of course it was valentines and oh for goodness sake she did have plans this evening but she couldn't very well tell Vi about them, she'd only just blundered into being forgiven by the woman now watching her with a worried expression. "Erm yeah, oh gosh, I'm so sorry Vi but I do have plans, it's like a family thing, I wish I could get out of it but I can't..." blathered the bothered brunette as she paced busily across the otherwise empty hall. Vi raised an eyebrow at the change in behaviour at the mention of the commercial holiday, perhaps it had been too much to presume that Caitlyn would be completely back to normal, it seemed as if the enforcer had scared her off with a perceived attempt at anything vaguely romantic.

The usually energetic woman seemed to withdraw into herself once again and just shrugged at Caitlyn with an off hand "no worries", before she could turn around and head towards the bar where she suspected Katarina was sat she felt a tug on her arm. Then she felt a warm hand fit snugly against her own and she clenched her eyes tightly together, knowing that if she looked at Caitlyn right now she would have no choice but to press her against a wall and kiss the breath out of the brunette. "Hello there Caitlyn, shouldn't you be getting ready? Tables booked for seven...oh, hey Vi" queried an all too charming voice that the both of them found familiar, the sheriff felt as if her limbs were made from lead as she watched the recognition of what Jayce had just said wash over Vi like ice. The enforcer's face twisted into an uncharacteristic snarl and she asked tonelessly "why lie?" at Caitlyn's feet, she could not bear to look into those deep brown pools at this moment in time. "Vi...I- I can't...I don't-" she began to stammer whilst trying to strengthen her grip on the other woman's hand.

The only physical sign that Vi had heard what the sheriff stuttered was the clenching of her jaw, she remained staring at the ground by Caitlyn's feet before breaking their hands apart and turning to storm from the hall. She chose to ignore the way that her heart felt like it was crunching together once again, why should she care if her boss wanted to go on a date with him, she shouldn't that's right. Vi shouldn't care at all, she knew it but it hurt that she had been lied to most of all, questions started to swirl in her mind and she hazarded a guess that the radio silence she had received from Caitlyn for the past two months was because she was dating that pretentious prick.

Surely if they were best friends though she would have wanted to talk to Vi about it, what was the point in lying about it, she couldn't understand and it made her so angry she just wanted to smash something. "What has she done?" snarled the redhead that had appeared in front of Vi, looking around the enforcer realised that she had just stormed into the bar and was stood in the centre of the room with her gigantic fists tightly clenched. Katarina noted the deep frown on her friend's face and the fact her eyes were glistening and pulled her into a private booth far from the prying eyes of other champions that were watching Vi carefully.

In the main hall Caitlyn stood transfixed watching the Vi shaped hole that had just materialised in her life, she didn't even hear the snort that came from Jayce or his comment of "jeez, what's got into her?" If she had he would certainly have had a slap, eventually he prodded her in the side to get her attention and cried out from the sharp slap on his offending hand. "Ow" he muttered shaking his injured appendage and frowning at the sullen sheriff, he sighed before stating "hey fine sorry, I wasn't joking earlier though, I'll be round for quarter to, see you then." Caitlyn murmured some noise to the affirmative and once the sound of footsteps had ceased she made to step forward and follow Vi into the bar she had disappeared into. Freezing she recognised that there was nothing she could say to make this any better right now, she had lied to her best friend and for what, she couldn't think of anything she wanted to do less than go on this date with Jayce.

A thought flashed into her head and she knew that there was one thing she wanted less than to go on this date with Jayce and that was helping Vi pack up her stuff from the office after her being fired, imagining the forlorn expression on her face in her daydream helped the sheriff to cope with the heartbroken one she had just seen moments ago. She cursed herself internally for listening to her father when he demanded that she go to dinner with Jayce, apparently Mr Buxton needed the ear of his father and it was well known that the defender of tomorrow rather fancied the sheriff. Caitlyn growled at the idea of being used as some sort of bartering device, akin to a cow or a goat in some third world countries and hated herself even more for going ahead with it.

Only managing to reconcile it with the fact that her father had warned her that he would get the enforcer fired unless she did so, the brunette scowled in the hall as she thought that it was likely her father would threaten that over her for the rest of her life. She was good friends with Jayce and under ordinary circumstances she would have enjoyed a meal with him, but for goodness sake not on this consumerist nightmare of a holiday. Gritting her teeth before leaving the sheriff resigned herself to getting through this evening so that she could keep her word and once they were finished she was going to find her mother no matter what and tell her all about her husbands new-found fancy for blackmailing his daughter. Then she would fix things with Vi, she had to, it was just a question of how precisely she was going to be able to do that.


	10. Blossom

Hola chicas! Pardon my butchering of any language that isn't English, I come bearing a new chapter, it's not nearly as sad as the previous two I promise. Hopefully you like it, congratulations to my fabulous fans for having this story pass 5000 views, now my head is so large it cannot pass through ordinary doorways and for that I thank you. Whether you love it, hate it, or find my arrogance arousing, please let me know in the reviews, I love the bromance between Katarina and Vi, they've taken on a life of their own in this story aha. Hold on to your pitchforks, I promise that the thrilling conclusion will be the next chapter, I've been waiting to write it for weeks ever since this idea popped into my head. Anyways enjoy, that's if any of you read these obnoxious authors notes, if you do then you're awesome x

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"What a bitch" stated Katarina with a subdued scoff, shaking her head incredulously at the selfish actions of her best friend's thoroughly undeserving object of affection before taking a sip from her bottle of beer. Her eyes narrowed dangerously of their own accord as she thought about her next interaction with Caitlyn, it was most certainly not going to be pretty, a low grumble interrupted her daydream and she was brought back to reality with a glance at Vi. The pink haired woman had her cheek pressed against the table and was slumped with one hand grasping her bottle and the other dangling beneath her, it would have been comical if she hadn't been so upset. The assassin's frown deepened as she recalled how pleased Vi had been only an hour ago after Caitlyn had 'apologised' and then she bloody blew her off for a date with the defender of virginity, grimacing at the idea of the two of them having sex she acknowledged that they were a perfect match in being boring and looking miserable.

Rubbing one of her hands soothingly on Vi's back, the redhead stated "there there" in what she hoped was a comforting and not creepy tone, pausing in her ministrations only to down the rest of her bottle. She had a fairly good idea that she wanted to be pretty damn tipsy in order to hear about Caitlyn crushing her friend's heart once again without storming to Piltover and shaking the sheriff until she woke the fuck up and realised what she was doing. Nudging the enforcer with her elbow and trying to make her laugh, Katarina stood from the table with an announcement of "BRB" and was not surprised to hear nothing but a low whine from the table. Rolling her eyes she headed towards the bar in order to get them both an assortment of alcoholic beverages, maybe she could try a drinking game later when Vi was more responsive, well less like a depressed corpse would be nice. "Hmm, Pilties don't play nice do they?" spoke Ekko in a low murmur, who Katarina noted with surprise was sat at the bar and glancing over at Vi with something like regret upon his face.

"Are you even old enough to drink?" she questioned with a smirk, though she happened to agree with him, people in Piltover like to pretend to be so proper, perhaps for appearances sake. Ekko snorted at her comment and grinned back at her, inclining his glass of soft drink at her with a shrug, Katarina happened to like the lad, he had a smart mouth and he hated Caitlyn and Jayce too, which made her enjoy his company all the more, though she despised laning against him. "Is she alright?" he queried softly with his eyes still trained on the pink haired lump leaning against the table, the redhead shrugged in response and sighed jumping up onto a bar stool stating "yeah, she will be. If that sheriff ever stops leading her on..." Ekko grunted in agreement before whispering "earlier on the rift, I don't know whether you saw but...she was all over Vi, like straddling her, like almost having sex in the jungle all over."

Katarina's drink froze on its way to her mouth and her fingers clenched unconsciously tighter around the bottle as she digested this new information, she had known the two of them must have talked after being flung across the map by Poppy's ultimate because she hadn't seen them for absolutely ages afterwards. Narrowing her eyes at the raised eyebrows of the boy next to her she almost choked on the sip she had already taken before exclaiming "no wonder she's so upset" and slamming one of her fists angrily against the bar counter. Katarina couldn't even articulate or put into words just how furious she was, words would only pale in comparison to the sheer rage that was coursing through her, she needed to hurt Caitlyn, make her feel a fraction of what the brunette was doing to Vi. Scowling she took another large swig of her drink before grabbing the remaining bottles and heading over to her still incapacitated friend, offering Ekko a small smile and a nod of her head, which he reciprocated before grabbing his belongings and waving at the assassin on his way out.

Once she had jumped into her seat with a loud thump, Katarina replaced the still half full bottle in Vi's hand with a fresh one, choosing to down the remaining beverage with a slight grimace, shivering she recognised that warm beer was truly hideous. The enforcer still remained stubbornly facing the wall with her face pressed against the table, the redhead sighed before stating "...So...Ekko tells me you are a slut" and grinning at the way Vi had scowled at the comment. Lifting her head hurriedly from the table the pink haired woman narrowed her eyes at Katarina questioningly and the woman obliged with a smile "nice to see you are awake, he tells me you had fun in the bushes with your straight sheriff." At the mention of Caitlyn, the enforcer had groaned and flung her head against the table once again with a dry sob.

Kicking herself mentally for behaving so callously towards Vi, the assassin groaned and leant her own cheek against the table in order to face the still sullen woman, her mossy eyes locked on azure ones that were framed by furrowed brows. "Sorry" Katarina murmured, attempting to convey her apology with a sincere expression, it seemed to do the trick and the enforcer offered her a thin smile, though the two of them remained with their faces pressed against the wood veneer. "Not like I don't think that this is a good way to spend the evening, but why don't we play some drinking games and then we might actually cheer up instead of getting stuck to the table?" the redhead stated with a raised eyebrow and a cocky grin. Vi rolled her eyes at the statement but grinned back and finally relented with "sure, but get me something stronger if you want cheery, right now I can just about tolerate being in public."

The redhead smirked before attempting to peel her face from the sticky surface, which proved to be a more difficult task than she anticipated. Jumping from her seat she excitedly exclaimed "rum? Your majesty?" with a deep and patronising bow before ruffling the already unruly pink hair or her companion. Vi swatted at her with a flailing arm and answered with "why yes lady Du Couteau, I would certainly enjoy such a refreshing beverage" in a cloying parody of the uptown accent and erupting into a loud bout of laughter. Katarina shook her head smiling before heading towards the bar and grabbing an entire bottle of rum as well as spirit shots, thanking the barkeep she moved to return to Vi before an insidious idea flashed through her head and a devilish smirk spread across her face. "So..." she began in her most flirtatious manner, batting her eyelids for good measure at the rather handsome gentleman at the bar "if you were going to take me out for dinner in Piltover...where would we go?" The ashen haired man seemed a bit taken aback by the very direct question and just about managed to stammer a response "I-I think we'd go to Blossom."

"Is that so...?" she replied effortlessly maintaining eye contact and letting her sentence trail off in hopes of gleaning his name, after a moment he picked up on her question and leaned in closer to murmur "Eric, it's Eric, yeah it's a nice little Ionian place, right by the shore, very romantic." Katarina's mossy eyes widened slightly at the forward nature of his response before they darkened and she chewed upon her lower lip before smirking at him, he was precisely her type and she found it very difficult to remember why she wasn't leaving the bar with him right now. Her best friend instincts won over her libido in the end however and she grinned at him before stating "maybe we'll meet there tomorrow night? I don't know around nine?" and the huge grin he sent her in response confirmed that her plans for tomorrow evening had never looked better.

"Took you long enough" mumbled Vi as the redhead plonked herself back down next to her with a grin, Katarina shook her head petulantly stating "well I needed a tray." The enforcer raised an eyebrow at her before glancing between her friend and the blonde guy at the bar who was still watching her with a massive grin and replying "yeah and his phone number obviously." The pink haired woman smirked initially before slumping over the table again with a thump wailing "I haven't been able to think about anyone but Caitlyn for months, what's wrong with me?" Katarina scowled at the mention of the brunette, choosing to take three of the plentiful shots she had brought to the table and a hearty swig of the rum before even attempting an answer to the long list of things that were wrong with Vi's attraction to the sheriff. "Nothing wrong with you" she finally shrugged in response, choosing another large gulp of the rum before passing the bottle over to the other woman "it's her that's the problem."

Vi frowned at the comment but hesitated to immediately defend the sheriff, instead downing a good portion of their shared rum and chewing her lip contemplatively. Caitlyn was certainly the most confusing human being she had ever encountered and that was saying something considering Jinx was certifiably insane, at least the blue haired criminal was consistently insane, she never knew what side of the sheriff she would encounter lately. Voicing her thoughts she began to gesticulate her arms wildly while spouting "I just don't know what's been going on lately, there's this funny, charming, caring and stunning woman that I've fallen for and she keeps going walkabout and being replaced by a cold emotionless robot. I just yeah, sometimes I think she feels the same way but I don't know..." Trailing off the pink haired woman looked incredibly forlorn and Katarina felt like the plan she had hatched earlier at the bar made even more sense, though this was of course spurred on by the copious amount of alcohol she had consumed.

Feeling an evil smirk spread across her face Katarina tried her best to quell it before the enforcer noticed, they were going to find out how the sheriff felt about Vi this evening, it was the perfect plan with no flaws whatsoever, none at all. "Do you wanna get something to eat?" queried the redhead in what she hoped was a nonchalant manner, Vi grunted her assent and picked up a nearby menu. Smirking once more Katarina stated "nah, let's go out, I've been sat here way too long, we'll go some place nice in Piltover" the pink haired woman looked up at her and asked "anywhere in particular?" Trying to contain her excitement the assassin simply grinned before downing a large portion of the rum and stating "I know just the place."

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"Let me get the chair for you" offered Jayce with a charming grin, Caitlyn had to admit that he had dressed himself rather nicely for the occasion, as she had known he would. After helping her settle at their table, he removed his suit jacket before sitting across from her with a wide grin and stating "you look very lovely this evening." The sheriff tried her best to feel flattered by the comment but it was a very difficult act to pull off convincingly, instead she tried desperately to flag one of the waiting staff in order to get herself a rather large glass of wine, maybe even the whole bottle. A soft ringing interrupted her polite conversation with their waitress, both of whom glanced at Jayce who smiled apologetically before gesturing with his phone and mouthing "sorry" before he fled from the room. "So...?" began the girl next to her, whose name badge identified her as Veronica, continuing whilst placing her hand on her hip and raising an eyebrow at the bewildered sheriff "are you Piltover's newest power couple?"

Caitlyn almost choked on the hearty sip of wine she had taken, feeling it burn the back of her throat, she sputtered an indignant "what?" and stared at the waitress as if she had grown another head. For her part Veronica just raised her eyebrow even further and shook her head good naturedly stating "you're out for dinner on Valentines day..." trailing off her sentence as if that proved her point. Laughing at the aghast expression of the sheriff, she spoke softer "don't be nervous, he's a total catch, you guys are like my OTP, well..." A curious smile grew across Veronica's face and she sighed before topping up Caitlyn's glass, "that is, you know, all things considered." The brunette at the table turned towards her and queried "what do you mean by that?" and found herself surprised when the waitress offered her a subtle shrug of her shoulder and giggled "aha I don't think so, I'd quite like to get a tip this evening." With an almost knowing smirk the redhead flounced off towards another table after placing the bottle down and leaving the sheriff to ponder what on earth she had been talking about.

"Hey, sorry about that" interrupted a chipper voice into her thoughts, she glanced up startled to find striking blue eyes locked upon her own, for a moment her breath hitched and she felt convinced that Vi was in front of her. Shaking herself out of the strange thought she recognised that the enforcer was thankfully nowhere near herself or Jayce, it was far too confusing to think about the pink haired woman right now. A pang of sadness struck through her very core as she thought about their last meeting and how upset Vi had been following her outright lies. "You okay?" queried Jayce hesitantly, he had caught the pained expression on Caitlyn's face, she made a conscientious effort to relax her furrowed brows and then flashed an all too perfect grin at him. "Never better" she lied, taking in the easy grin on Jayce's face and his perfectly coiffed hair, he was definitely handsome, maybe a bit much so, it was hard to work out why precisely she wanted to be anywhere but here.

Jayce grinned confidently at her before ushering their waitress back to the table, with a jolt Caitlyn realised that she had not even contemplated what she wanted to eat even though she was gripping the menu with quite some intensity. Quickly scanning through she started at the slight scoff that came from the man across from her, "don't worry, I'll order for you" he stated with what he obviously planned as casual indifference but came across as arrogance. The sheriff narrowed her eyes at him over the menu indignantly, he was oblivious to her scowl however as Veronica had just appeared and smiled at the two of them. "Hey I'm V-" she began before a short "two steaks, well done" was issued from Jayce who had not even looked up to greet her, or seemed at all bothered that he had just interrupted the shocked redhead. Holding up the menu he had just taken from Caitlyn and his own, Veronica took them quickly, her demeanour changed rapidly though and the easygoing smile that she had worn previously was gone.

The sheriff watched the young girl leave with an aghast expression of her own before casting her eyes upon Jayce who was still grinning at her, seemingly not bothered by how utterly rude he had just been. An incredulous sigh escaped her and he raised an eyebrow in response, unable to even place into words how disgusting she found his behaviour the brunette just shook her head. "I'm going to the bathroom" she managed to snarl, Jayce having the good grace to look affronted and surprised by her reaction but she was up and storming from the table before he stutter anything in reply. Watching her disappear from sight he shook his head and muttered "women" before taking a tentative sniff of Caitlyn's wine and pouring himself a rather generous glass.

Propelled by sheer rage, Caitlyn found herself outside the women's bathroom door and pushed it open with more force than necessary, despite stumbling slightly she was thankful that this time she did not fall on her face. The memory of the last time she had done so flashed painfully before her eyes as she remembered Vi both beside her gently stroking her face and being pulled unceremoniously on top of her. A prominent blush spread across her cheeks as she exhaled shakily, the memory caused a painful longing within that terrified her. Staring at her rather well presented reflection, she scowled, unsure whether the anger burning inside of her was to do with Jayce's rude behaviour, the fact she was on the date at all or her father's controlling behaviour. It could also be due to the fact she had hurt Vi, twice quite badly within the last two months, well she supposed three technically after she had fled from the balcony following Katarina's ill-timed appearance. A small voice in the back of her mind offered another explanation, one she had not considered previously, she was angry because she was lying to herself.

Sighing whilst placing her hands on the back of her head the brunette kept her eyes on the ground, contemplating what it was that she might be lying to herself about, finding it easier to ignore the elephant in the room. "Oh sorry" stated an apologetic Veronica, who had just barged into the bathroom and was stood at the entrance worriedly taking in the sight of the frustrated sheriff. Caitlyn composed herself quickly before turning to the redhead and offering her a polite smile and an honest "no worries...hey, I'm sorry about earlier, I had no idea he could be so rude." Victoria gave an absent minded shrug at her comment but grinned at the last word, which had been stated with such acidity that it was obvious the sheriff did not share her dates manners or lack thereof. "It's okay" she began, still fiddling with the collar of her pristine white shirt nervously "you get used to it unfortunately, especially rich guys, you know what they say, you shouldn't meet your heroes..."

Chewing her lip contemplatively the sheriff watched Veronica rub her hand on the back of her neck as an obvious nervous tick and couldn't help the smile that spread across her face as she thought about not only how familiar the gesture was but also about the adorable way Vi did the very same thing. The redhead glanced up from the floor to find Caitlyn stood with a wide grin on her face and glazed eyes before querying hesitantly "you okay?" The brunette seemed to shake herself from the previous thought and smiled genuinely in response, reaching out to touch the other woman's shoulder and stated "don't worry about him, he's an idiot." Veronica laughed at the statement before narrowing her eyes unsure at the sheriff and replied softly "what are you doing on a date with him then?" seeming to remember herself she gasped and placed a hand over her mouth with eyes wide. Caitlyn raised both eyebrows at the obviously apologetic woman and sighed loudly "it's complicated, I kind of had to, it's not important anyway, there definitely won't be a second one."

Unable to help herself, Veronica giggled in response and then turned to head from the bathroom with a grin after glancing at the clock affixed onto the wall, sighing "I'd better get back to work." Before she could push the door open however Caitlyn surged forward and exclaimed "earlier, what were you talking about when you said 'all things considered' about Jayce and I?" Confusion settled over the sheriff's face when a startled gasp escaped the now furiously blushing redhead, who for all intents and purposes looked to be aflame. "Erm" she squeaked appearing as if she wanted the ground to swallow her right now, this only caused Caitlyn's curiosity to peak and she raised an eyebrow at the waitress, crossing her arms over her chest to drive the point home that she wanted an answer. Releasing a shaky breath Veronica murmured "you know, because you're, you're..." pausing to gulp, piercing green eyes met the sheriff's darkened orbs and finally she finished "straight."

Out of all the conversations that Caitlyn had expected this evening, discussing her sexuality with a waitress in the bathroom was certainly not one of them, her jaw had dropped following the word and she stared incredulously at the still blushing Veronica. "I'm sorry, it's just you know, obviously you're straight I mean you're here with a guy on valentines day. It's just like my girlfriend is convinced you'd be perfect with someone else but obviously you're not gay, you're straight, definitely wishful thinking-" The redhead was startled into silence when she felt a firm grip upon her shoulder and an almost whispered "breathe" issued by Caitlyn, it served to silence the nervous and rambling monologue she had been rapidly giving. "I'm well aware of the almost celebrity like status that we as champions have to endure, as well as the seemingly endless questions surrounding our love lives" the sheriff spoke softly, her eyes narrowed only slightly at Veronica who was still hyperventilating, pausing for a moment before questioning "who is it I'd be perfect with?"

If it were at all possible Veronica's blush became even more prominent, it was now near impossible to differentiate between her cascading auburn locks and the entirety of her face. Staring wide eyed at the waiting sheriff, she sighed before muttering "you know, there's a fair few people, that think based on your eh friendship, they think you might be, ya'know, with..." trailing off hesitantly, the young girl's piercing eyes found Caitlyn's once more and this time the brunette took pity on her. Pushing both hands up to cover her face she moaned loudly and sagged against the tile walls, feeling the cold pressing into her more bare than usual back. "It's Vi isn't it?" she stated matter of factly, glancing towards Veronica to find a surprised and altogether embarrassed expression upon her face, the redhead offered a simple nod that confirmed the sheriff's suspicions and caused her to groan even louder.

"Of course it's Vi, why wouldn't it be?" Caitlyn whined loudly, staring at the ceiling as she leant against the still freezing linoleum. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to embarrass you or make you uncomfortable or anything, it's just a silly rumour" the redhead blurted out in a near frenzy, desperately worried that she had upset the sheriff who had thus far been very friendly towards her. "It's fine, don't worry" the brunette replied flatly, eyes remaining on the tiles above her head, Veronica fidgeted whilst watching the stationary woman before exclaiming "okay, if you say so...I do need to get back to work." Caitlyn remained in place and did so until she heard the door swing shut once again, signalling that she was now alone. Her thoughts descended into a cacophony of screams, all of them competing for attention, the loudest of all was that if people already thought that Vi and her were in a relationship then did that mean that her father thought they were. With a jolt the brunette realised that she needed to speak to Vi and she struggled to find her phone in the deep maze that was a handbag, whilst cursing fashion designers for their hatred of pockets in women's clothing.

"Pick up pick up pick up" she muttered darkly into her phone as the line continued to ring, there was no answer for what seemed like ages and when she heard Vi's voice she almost cried with delirium. "Call me beep me if you wanna reach me" sang out obnoxiously from the device in her hand and she grimaced at once recognising the tone that signified a voicemail. Shaking her head angrily Caitlyn sighed once again, running her hand through her long brown hair in an attempt to calm herself, if random people thought that herself and Vi were an item did that mean...oh goodness she did not want to finish that thought. What if she did feel something more than friendship, what if it was painfully obvious, her eyes flashed wide as an image burst through her mind, a memory from the morning after her rum infused evening at the Blue Flame. That of a dishevelled looking Vi grinning easily at her cross legged on her own bed, the one she had given up so Caitlyn could sleep off her hangover, after carrying the sheriff home and sleeping on the couch.

It was almost as if a brick had hit her, the forcefulness of emotions that accompanied not only the memory but the realisation of something buried deep, it was not an exaggeration to say that Caitlyn felt winded. The air escaped her lungs painfully as she slumped to the ground and eyes wide contemplated the rush of warmth that accompanied the idea of Vi, and she couldn't help the series of images that flashed before her eyes. Vi grinning widely at her after a successful match, Vi bringing her a tea after their night out, Vi placing her arm around her watching the fireworks, Vi bringing her cupcakes in an attempt to get out of paperwork, Vi kissing her on the balcony. "Oh fuck" she almost moaned, dragging a hand through her hair once again and staring shocked ahead, how the hell had she missed it, somewhere throughout the course of the last few months she had fallen for the thick-headed woman.

A lyrical chiming almost caused her to have a nervous breakdown and she hurriedly pulled her phone up to her face both hoping and terrified that it might be Vi, her face fell however at a short text from Jayce asking whether she had fallen in. Groaning tiredly she resigned herself to just making some sort of excuse about a headache, maybe even it being her time of the month, Jayce didn't seem as if he was mature enough to even question it. All she wanted was to go home and sit in the dark, it was just too much to cope with, suddenly she was in some way not entirely straight, in love with her best friend and dealing with two different pig headed men who seemed to know what was best for her. Pressing her back against the wall she stood up and brushed herself down subconsciously, before striding across to the door and leaving. Roving her eyes across the room she caught sight of a commotion as she wandered over to the table Jayce was waiting at for her with a cautious smile.

A young couple were almost running from a table near to their own, furrowing her brows she managed to make out a rather tipsy voice screech after them "thanks for fitting us in at short notice." A disconcerting sort of panic descended upon Caitlyn as she thought the voice to be familiar, narrowing her eyes at the new occupants she stopped dead at the sight of unruly pink hair. The heart seemed to seize in her chest as she recognised the familiar outline of Vi sat with her back to the sheriff, it was difficult for her to even form a coherent thought, especially considering her emotional breakthrough in the bathroom. "Hey, where have you been?" questioned Jayce, his voice laden with ill hidden irritation, Caitlyn turned to face him only to realise she was stood alongside their table. Mustering all the charm she could suffice she turned to him with a soft smile and lied "sorry, my father called, he wanted to know how the evening was going."

He arched an eyebrow in response before shrugging and gesturing for her to dig in to the steaks that had obviously arrived in her absence, it was clear from the mess on his plate and the stains around his mouth that he had already begun. Crinkling her nose in distaste the sheriff eyed Vi nervously, she didn't know whether the pink haired woman knew that the two of them were in the same restaurant, it could certainly not be a coincidence. The enforcer moved to the side in order to grab condiments from another table and just then Caitlyn knew that it had not been a coincidence, she didn't know how, but as she caught sight of narrowed mossy eyes and an arrogant smirk, she knew. Katarina had found out where herself and Jayce were dining this evening and had brought Vi with her, the redhead offered her a small nod before disappearing behind the pink hair once again. Caitlyn's stomach twisted as she tried to work out why precisely the assassin had done just that, she had a fairly good idea that it wasn't to double date.


	11. Dinner and a Show

Oh my days, it's finally here, my lifes work, well a week of it at least. It turned into a bit of an epic, actually lengthier than all of the essays I wrote at university, which is kind of amazing. I really hope you like it guys, I happen to think it's quite good but of course I would, I'm arrogant as fuck. This chapter is dedicated to all of you who read this piece of fiction and especially the loyal ones who favourite, follow and review, you guys are wonderful and I really appreciate you all. Anyways, on to the drama, the comedy and maybe if you're lucky there might even be some romance, don't forget to let me know whether you like it! Enjoy! xx

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"...but anyway, after I defeated Viktor I have to tell you I was a little exhausted you know, from the heroic battle in his laboratory and all, but these reporters were just begging me to tell them all about it" stated Jayce with a cocky grin. Dinner had been long forgotten about as their plates remained untouched upon the table, in truth Caitlyn had barely glanced at her meal, her eyes and her mind focused intently upon the unruly pink hair a few seats away. He was now rubbing the back of his neck in an attempt to display some level of humility but the giddy tone of his voice belayed that "...I mean it wasn't that big of a deal, all I'd done was single-handedly save Piltover from the 'glorious evolution' but you know my dad, he was insistent that I receive a medal..." The sheriff was well aware that her date for the evening was droning on in what was now a pretty impressive monologue about his defeat of the machine herald, and had been doing so for the past fifteen minutes, pretty much uninterrupted.

It appeared as if her sporadic nods and sighs were making him believe that she was in fact enthralled in his reiteration, an epic tale complete with hand actions, Jayce felt particularly at ease as he talked about his favourite subject, himself. In truth Caitlyn's mind was a whirlwind of activity as she considered the ramifications of having more than platonic feelings for her female best friend. She knew that she needed to speak to her parents and that if she told her mother about her feelings then Mr Buxton would have to fall in line and cease his quest for Vi's unemployment. Grinning slyly she recognised that if there was anything scarier than the raised eyebrows of his peers, than it had to be his wife finding out he blackmailed their daughter, two could certainly play at that game. The biggest issue was how she was going to speak to Vi about this, whether in fact she should, what if the enforcer didn't feel quite the same way. Feeling all of a sudden choked up, Caitlyn realised that she needed to find out, not knowing wasn't something in her nature.

"...regardless I'd like to think that it's okay for me to be both a champion and the hero of Piltover, I just don't think I need to be the commissioner of the police force as well, I won't be able to focus on anything that really matters, like starting a family" Jayce was now softly smiling at the sheriff who was brought back to reality with a crash upon hearing the words 'commissioner' and 'family' and cast a bewildered glance at him. He seemed to take her shock as a positive, chuckling at her wide eyes and murmuring "well I mean it's perfect don't you see? We can be the pride of Piltover, partners in running the police force, I can see why our fathers are so insistent, I mean you have to admit I'd be a much better partner than that zaunite-" Caitlyn crashed an open palm against the table and interrupted with a snarl "Vi, you mean Vi, my best friend, who I wouldn't trade for the world." Jayce raised an eyebrow at both her icy glare and outburst before chuckling at her and raising both hands in a gesture of surrender. "No offence, I just don't think she'll be around much longer, I mean I think she's getting pretty serious with the assassin, maybe they'll move to Noxus together."

It felt like ice was coursing through Caitlyn's veins following the statement and she couldn't help the scowl that flashed across her face as she unconsciously narrowed her eyes and ground her teeth together. Glancing towards where she knew Vi was sat with the noxian she began to wonder why precisely the two of them had gone out for dinner at the same restaurant as herself and Jayce, was it some kind of admission that the two of them were dating being out on valentines together. Considering the fact that neither herself or Katarina liked the other, she found it entirely possible that the only reason they were here was to flaunt the new relationship before Caitlyn. Her heart seemed to seize within her chest as she considered the possibility, Vi and Katarina had been friends long before she had even met the pink haired woman, they were both to some extent not entirely straight and spent a lot of time together. Vi laughed uproariously at something the assassin had said just then, as if to cement Caitlyn's fears, the sound only caused her insides to clench as she realised that any chance to tell Vi her feelings may well have dissipated.

Self loathing tinged with regret seemed to replace any other emotion within herself and she had to clench her eyes tightly together in order to stem the tears that were threatening to spill upon her face. It had been two months since she had all but cut off communication with the enforcer and it would not surprise her if the two of them had begun dating and Vi had just not been able to tell her yet, to be perfectly honest and even if it hurt, she couldn't really blame her. Even at the best times Caitlyn was cold and serious, not exactly the best combination for a relationship, Katarina was fiery and passionate, though it pained her to admit, the redhead definitely seemed like the logical choice. "Woah, sorry don't worry, no one will go to Noxus..." spoke Jayce hesitantly, regarding Caitlyn's gritted teeth and glistening eyes warily, she did not seem to hear him and was busy glaring just over his shoulder. Curiosity getting the better of him he turned to find out what was so interesting and recognised the outline of Vi, as well as the smirking face of Katarina, who winked at him before downing a good portion from a wine bottle.

"Ah, you find their presence distracting...do you want to trade seats?" queried Jayce politely as he turned back around to face the sheriff, who scowled in response before narrowing her eyes at him with a sigh. "Can we just pretend they're not here?" Caitlyn huffed after a moments silence, shaking her head with annoyance and resuming her angry staring contest with the back of Vi's head. Jayce watched her do so with a raised eyebrow, nodding hurriedly when she fixed a beady eye upon him, he coughed nervously before asking "did you want any dessert?" Caitlyn opened her mouth to reply but a loud and obnoxious laugh interrupted her, frowning once again at the table she stiffened hearing Katarina almost cry out "oh Vi you're so funny, I'm so lucky you're here with me tonight." It was stated so loudly that many of the other occupants in the room couldn't help but turn to stare at the two women, the sheriff couldn't help the snarl that spread across her face and ground her teeth together painfully. She theorised that she might be able to ignore the two of them and come to terms with their obvious and sickening relationship, if only she didn't have to see it first hand.

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Though Caitlyn was unaware due to her vantage point, Vi had been surprised by the loud comment from the redhead and raised an eyebrow at Katarina across the table. The assassin just gave her a sly grin in response and shrugged, grateful still that the pink haired woman did not know that Caitlyn and Jayce were dining in the same place. Katarina hazarded a quick glance towards the two of them and smirked at the stiff posture of the sheriff as well as the prominent scowl upon her face. "Oh you scoundrel, I'll have you know I wanted to have dessert here, not at home" the redheads equally loud statement caused Vi to choke on the tentative sip of wine she had just drank. As the alcohol burned her throat, fiery azure eyes locked on smug green ones, the redhead just shrugged once more and giggled in her most flirtatious manner. "I think you've had too much to drink" murmured Vi darkly as her cheeks began to flush ever so slightly from the awkward stares that the two of them were receiving from other diners. "You're adorable when you're embarrassed honey" cried Katarina in a cloying tone, choosing wisely to drink more wine in spate of replying to her friend's indignant growls.

"Kat are you trying to tell me something? Because last I remember we already had this conversation and we both decided it was a terrible idea" hissed Vi at the still smirking redhead, she was bent low over the table in order to minimise any possible eavesdropping from the still faintly curious people sat around them. Katarina giggled at the sight, finding herself to be a touch more tipsy than she had planned, her eyes kept flickering towards the seething brunette who was now glaring darkly at the two of them. Jayce appeared to be prattling on at great length about something, if she had to guess it would have been some egotistical story, from behind all she could see were his arms gesturing wildly. It was painfully obvious from Caitlyn's scowl that she wasn't listening to a word the man across from her was saying and it was almost possible to see the irritation coming off her in waves. This pleased Katarina greatly, even though she knew that this evening was about finding out precisely how the sheriff felt about Vi, it was impossible to keep the evil smirk from her face.

There was a definite conflict within the redhead, on the one hand she wanted her friend to be happy, on the other hand she didn't want Caitlyn to be happy. Ever since the two of them had first met on the rift they had quite obviously taken a dislike to the other, she always found the sheriff to be calculated, miserable looking and frankly frigid. Grinning she recognised that Caitlyn probably found her brash, violent and unpredictable, all true of course but it solidified the fact that the two of them were chalk and cheese. Katarina was definitely the cheese, tasty as fuck, with that thought a loud burst of laughter erupted from her. "Erm, are you okay? You're scaring me a little bit" stated the utterly confused enforcer, who had just watched her friend smirk and grin at thin air before almost crying with laughter and interrupting the general chatter in the room. The Noxian just shrugged and attempted a bite of the food in front of her, Vi raised an eyebrow at the strange behaviour but chose to ignore it for now and just try to get through this increasingly weird evening.

Katarina chanced a glance at the pink haired woman when she was certain that Vi was thoroughly engaged with her fish and chips, trying her best not to roll her eyes at the fact she had ordered Caitlyn's favourite dish. The sadness in her azure eyes caused a pang within her chest and her mouth grew into a tight grim line, perhaps it was the alcohol talking but in that moment she needed to hurt the sheriff more than she needed to make Vi happy. Where did the brunette get off toying with her best friend, flirting with her and then cutting her off when things started to get serious, she had had to listen to the enforcer sigh sorrowfully about Caitlyn for months and to be honest she was sick of it. It was time to get her friend back, more importantly it was time for the sheriff to have some payback, glancing back at the table she smirked at the sight of Caitlyn flashing her eyes quickly away. Finishing her rather large glass of wine, Katarina sighed satisfied and narrowed her eyes dangerously at the demur looking brunette, coughing ever so slightly she cried "Oh Vi, I'm so glad you've taken me out for this date, I couldn't imagine anyone sane ever turning you down!"

Her statement had the desired effect and she watched overjoyed as the sheriff stiffened further, her mouth fast becoming a thin hard line as her dark eyes flashed dangerously towards the still grinning Katarina. "What the hell is wrong with you?" hissed Vi, cautiously eyeing the bemused patrons near their table "you're making it sound like we're together you twat" she finished with an embarrassed flush creeping across her cheeks and neck. The redhead gave her an exaggerated wink in response and murmured "don't worry, just trust me" and winked again, Vi stared incredulously at her and rolled her eyes before stating "you're drunk, great." The redhead flashed her a dazzling smile and winked a third time before finishing her bottle of wine and signalling their waiter over with a wave and an obnoxious "yoohoo." Vi crinkled her nose and narrowed her eyes at the out of the ordinary behaviour, though Katarina was always an outrageous flirt when she was drunk this was just downright strange.

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"...I mean, I just can't be expected to be a model and an entrepreneur ya'know, it's just so frustrating being a sex symbol. Do you know how many women always want to see my hammer? It's almost never the hextech one either" finished Jayce sorrowfully, he had been lamenting for quite some time about the perils of being both the most handsome man in Piltover and one of the smartest non yordles in the city. The intermittent "mm hmm" that Caitlyn was offering in response seemed to satisfy him that she was listening, presumably she didn't say anything else because she had nothing of value to contribute to the discussion. Grinning at the thought he launched into another long diatribe about his latest interview for some glossy women's magazine, he couldn't remember the name of it but he was certain that both the interviewer and the photographer had been fighting for his affections. The sheriff nodded along with the grating tone of his voice, it was taking everything in side of her not to outwardly display any of the frustration she was experiencing.

As a detective she naturally observed others within her peripheral vision and was all too aware that Katarina kept glancing over at her and enjoying how bothered she was with a smug grin, Caitlyn did not want to give her the satisfaction. She genuinely couldn't imagine a more hideous evening, not only was she sat at a fancy restaurant in an uncomfortable outfit, but she was also sat with Jayce who was attempting to charm her by right now talking about how his evening at the interview transpired to include a threesome. The waitress had been talking about her imaginary relationship with Vi and the infuriating women herself was sat in the same diner with the redhead who hated her and now apparently the two of them were dating, something she found out only moments after the revelation about her feelings in the bathroom. Resisting the urge to groan loudly because she was fairly certain that Katarina was watching, she couldn't help her eye from twitching or the tight clench of her jaw.

Katarina knew it now, from the way that Caitlyn was furtively glancing towards the two of them, in the stiff and calculated manner she was sat and most importantly the unconscious ticks that belayed how upset she really was. Even if the sheriff was, well a sheriff, being an assassin meant having a decent understanding of body language too, the brunette was obviously trying to portray a sense of controlled indifference that she didn't feel inside. Clearly Caitlyn felt more than just friendship for her enforcer, and quite clearly her brilliant plan to make her jealous was working, she couldn't quite remember what the point of it was, she'd lost that point after her second bottle of wine, she was almost sure it had something to do with hurting the brunette who kept hurting her friend. Sniggering at the thought in her head she couldn't help but voice it and slurred quite loudly "how about we head back and you can check whether the carpets match the drapes?" in what she hoped was a husky tone.

The pink haired woman almost choked on the chip she had just placed into her mouth and her eyes bulged as she tried to cope with the statement that had just came out of her drunken friend's mouth. Incredulously she muttered "what the hell is wrong with you?" but was almost immediately cut off by a very familiar screech of "are you quite done?" The colour drained from Vi's face and her mouth opened and closed a few times of its own accord as she hoped against hope that it was not who she thought it was behind her. Hope breeds eternal misery however and as Katarina called out a flirtatious "hey _cupcake_ " the enforcer had to close her eyes and seriously consider whether holding her breath until she passed out was a viable solution to this vile situation. "You are being incredibly rude, not to mention crass _kitten_ " replied the sheriff in a tone laced with venom, Vi watched as the redhead across from her actually snarled at the patronising nickname. Not keen on watching the two women she cared about the most murder each other in the middle of a busy restaurant, she quickly stood up and raised both of her hands in a gesture of surrender.

Vi had been ready to be in the middle of an argument between the two of them, even a physical brawl, she had even been ready to carry the both of them from the crowded and now silent diner, what she hadn't been ready for however was turning to face Caitlyn. It was like a literal shock upon seeing the sheriff and she felt the all too familiar warm sensation in her stomach that accompanied being in close proximity to the gorgeous brunette, who was even more so this evening. Any words she had planned died in her throat and she stared open mouthed at Caitlyn, who had the hint of a flush creeping across her cheeks, either from the way Vi was looking at her or from her impending argument with Katarina. She stood with her hands on her hips and glared angrily at the now giggling assassin, Caitlyn was clearly furious and even if Vi tried her best, it was almost impossible not to be aroused by the sight. "Not only are you embarrassing yourself, but you're also doing the same to Vi, she's supposed to be your friend" hissed the flustered sheriff, who had stormed over to the table hurriedly during the enforcer's stunned assessment and was now leaning over it facing Katarina.

Where other people would have withered and died underneath the fierce scrutiny of the sheriff of Piltover, Katarina instead burst into a fit of laughter that only served to make Caitlyn's face grow hotter. "Oh you're killing me cupcake, friends, pshh, you know all about how to treat friends right?" stated the redhead through sniggers and attempted wiping a tear away, this close the brunette was able to smell the strong heady scent of alcohol cascading in waves from Katarina and she crinkled her nose in distaste. "You're drunk" she stated matter of factly, unable to keep the scathing tone from her voice, "Kat, lets leave it okay?" murmured Vi softly attempting to step in between the two women who were now both leaning across the table eyes locked on one another. "No" spat Katarina, keeping her eyes on the brunette and narrowing them further "you know what fancy pants sheriff, I'm sick of you, wanna see how _you_ treat friends?" Without waiting for a reply the redhead pushed herself from the table and grabbed the back of Vi's head pulling her closer and pressing their lips together.

Any conversation that had been occurring within Blossom came to an immediate standstill as every patron focused on the shouting match that had been brought to an abrupt end, Caitlyn found herself rooted to the spot as she tried to cope with the image before her. She definitely wasn't ready for an outright public display of affection by the two and it hurt her like nothing ever had before, physically she felt a sharp pain in her chest and tears began to sting at the corners of her eyes. Unable to compose herself and refusing to cry in public the brunette turned on her heel and stormed away, pausing only to grab her coat from the table where Jayce was sat. He was absorbed in the display between the two champions, evident from his dropped jaw and wide eyes, unaware that Caitlyn had just passed him. Vi had been absolutely flabbergasted by the turn of events and remained frozen as a consequence but she managed to compose herself enough to push the redhead away with much more force than necessary. "What the fuck is wrong with you?!" she screamed at Katarina, who scowled at the comment before replying "I was teaching her a lesson" and gesturing towards the brunette hurrying towards the exit.

"Caitlyn wait!" the enforcer cried, storming after the object of her affections and knocking a few distracted patrons aside on her way. The sheriff showed no signs of hearing the comment and hurried out of the door, Vi caught it as it started to swing back and rushed out. "Wait" she repeated desperately, as she gripped onto Caitlyn's arm and attempted to turn the woman around to face her, she succeeded in doing so but was greeted by a furious scowl on the brunette's face. It distracted her to such an extent that she was utterly surprised by the painful slap that struck the side of her face, staggered slightly Vi placed a hand upon her throbbing cheek and regarded the enraged sheriff with a shocked expression upon her face. "I don't want to hear it Vi, if the two of you want to make everyone awkward with your public displays go right ahead but don't you dare embarrass me too" snarled Caitlyn, pressing one of her fingers against Vi's chest and clenching her eyes shut tightly in an attempt to stem the flow of tears that desperately wanted to stream down her cheeks. Turning on her heel the sheriff practically ran off into the distance and Vi could only stand and watch her leave, feeling her shoulders sag with sadness and the still present stinging in her cheek.

In that moment as she stood watching the brunette disappear from sight, Vi felt a flurry of emotions surge through her, the most powerful of which was self loathing. It had been painfully obvious from the glistening eyes of the sheriff that she was hurting, and Vi knew she had been the one to cause it, if it was at all possible her shoulders dropped even further. Unbeknownst to the enforcer, almost every person within the restaurant was watching her through the large front window and had seen the entire exchange with Caitlyn, after a few moments low murmurs broke the silence as patrons began to discuss the dramatic turn of events. Veronica was transfixed on the despondent woman outside, she didn't know precisely what was going on but it looked like her girlfriend might have been correct about the nature of the relationship between Piltover's finest. Her phone rang abruptly and fumbling for it in her pocket she smiled at the caller ID and whispered into it "you are never going to believe this!" Katarina was watching her friend hesitantly, through the haze of alcohol she could convince herself that what she had done was completely justified, surely the lovesick fool would have to agree.

Despite the redheads self assurance that everything was going to be fine, she couldn't help feeling her stomach drop through the floor as Vi turned to face the glass with a furious expression and gauntlets clenched tightly into gigantic fists. Glaring at the assassin through the glass, self loathing had been replaced by unadulterated loathing for the idiot that had kissed her in front of Caitlyn and lied to her the entire evening. "Oh shit" cried Katarina, who began to dash backwards further into the restaurant fear evident on her face, "Kat!" growled the enforcer who stormed in after her, sending chairs and the terrified patrons sat upon them flying across the room. Narrowing her eyes at the retreating form of the redhead Vi screamed and gave chase, fortunately for Katarina the enforcer was not known for her finesse and found herself slowed by the tables that kept seeming to get in her way. Even though the assassin was inhibited by the alcohol, causing her reaction times to be far less prompt and her limbs to react rather more sluggishly she was still fast enough to remain just outside the grip of the furious pink haired woman.

"You can't tell me she didn't deserve that!" called Katarina over her shoulder as she jumped over the counter that separated the bar, ducking behind it she raised her head tentatively when she did not hear any reply. Vi grasped her at that moment by the neck and lifted the staggered redhead above the marble counter-top, Katarina struggled to escape the egregiously strong grip but found herself completely unable to do so. Desperately clawing at the hand wrapped around her throat she uttered a few strangled gasps, the enforcer pulled her closer with one hand still clenched at her side and whispered "what?" Katarina pointed towards the other woman's pocket and when Vi dropped her gaze to glance at it, the assassin grinned widely and laughed, brandishing a small knife she had been concealing within her palm. Vi snarled once again reaching for the knife but before she could do so the redhead flicked the weapon carelessly against her skin and she felt a searing pain in her cheek. Lifting her spare gauntlet to protect against further wounds, the assassin's eyes widened and she took her chance, stabbing the knife into the pink haired woman's shoulder with a practised indifference.

Vi shouted an angry torrent of curse words at the action and dropped the redhead in order to grasp her wounded shoulder, falling onto one of her knees she glanced angrily at Katarina only to find her no longer there. Turning her head from side to side she caught sight of a rapidly fleeing woman to her left, who was bumping into a fair few tables herself, deep down she knew that her friend was really really drunk and that to be honest she shouldn't be trying to start some fight with her. The issue was that between the two of them, neither had ever been talkers, far more content to settle issues with physical violence, and right now Vi wanted some physical violence because holy hell she was mad and upset and trying to articulate her feelings into words was terrifying. It would be far easier for the both of them to just batter the fuck out of each other, talk it out while they were fighting and then move on, something they could get done already if Katarina didn't insist upon being so slippery. Launching herself in pursuit of the redhead, Vi surprised herself with her speed once again this evening, catching the rapidly swinging door once again as the assassin attempted to leave as quickly as possible.

Giggling once again Katarina turned to look into the restaurant and when she didn't see any sight of Vi she exhaled shakily and stopped, staring across the road with a smug grin. Suddenly she found herself pressed against the ground with the concrete scraping along her cheek, "gotcha!" shouted the triumphant weight on top of her, which from the giant gauntlets attempting to hike her arms painfully behind her head she could safely assume was Vi. "Gerroff me!" cried the indignant redhead, who did her best to wriggle from underneath the abnormally strong woman, which only led to her face losing further layers of skin to the ground. "Not fair" Katarina snarled into the concrete, aghast at finding herself in this weakened position and resolving herself to cutting a deep gash on Vi's face when she found herself able to do so to teach her a lesson. "Fine" stated the enforcer tonelessly and the assassin felt the gauntlets letting go of her hands, before she could attempt to roll over however she felt Vi's thighs clench around her sides tightly and the woman in question simply laughed and murmured "I'm making it fair."

The large gauntlets caused a clatter as they landed upon the ground in Katarina's peripheral vision, the redhead took the opportunity of Vi attempting to grab her hands once again to quickly turn around and slash the knife that had been concealed down the side of her bra along Vi's neck. "Fuck" gasped the enforcer, who retrieved one of her hands in order to press it against the now trickling wound, the redhead pulled herself free and crouched facing her with blades occupying both hands and a grimace upon her face. "She deserved it" spat the furious assassin, who was now furrowing her brows at the still enraged enforcer "she hurts you but you're too weak to do the same back!" Growling Katarina sprung upwards from her legs and launched herself at Vi in an attempt to gain the upper hand and scrape the other woman's face along the floor, she could still feel gravel digging into her cheek. The pink haired woman waited until Katarina was almost atop her and flung herself backwards onto the ground, pressing her legs straight upwards and catching the assassin in the stomach, using her own momentum to propel her further.

Katarina was utterly surprised by the turn of events and due to her reaction speed being inhibited by the alcohol still coursing through her she couldn't do anything but turn slightly to the side as she landed on the ground with a sickening crunch. "FUCK!" she cried as a searing heat exploded from the elbow that had broken her fall, clutching it tightly she groaned loudly and shut her eyes feeling tears stinging the corners. Flashes of white burst behind her vision and the pain emanating from her broken or at least fractured bone almost caused her to scream but instead she bit down harshly upon her bottom lip. "Oh shit kat are you okay?" questioned the enforcer hurriedly, Vi had watched the redhead wide eyed as she crashed into the ground, normally the assassin would have been able to right herself in the air and she was certain that the two of them would have continued their fight. She had not accounted for how drunk Katarina was in the split second she had to decide how to get the enraged redhead away from her, Vi had certainly not expected any broken bones. Kneeling over the still groaning assassin, she felt her eyebrows furrow of their own accord and she murmured "I'm sorry", Katarina growled in response but made no effort to move, evidently still severely in pain.

"Fuck you" the redhead spat angrily, cracking one eye open in order to stare just as fiercely at Vi, catching sight of the utterly apologetic expression on her face however the bulk of her anger dissipated and she groaned. "I was trying to help" began Katarina dejectedly still gripping her shattered elbow tightly "guess I just fucked it up because I was mad...maybe too much wine." Pushing some of her unruly pink hair out of her eyes, Vi responded with a low chuckle, "yeah guess you did, though now I know that you being insane in there was because you were trying to make Caitlyn jealous, I guess that's why we came here as well?" The redhead grumbled in response but nodded her head ever so slightly, confirming the enforcer's suspicions, Vi shook her head incredulously but the smile she wore belayed the affection she felt for the complete idiot on the ground. "I suppose in a way it worked" murmured the injured assassin, eyes alight as she regarded the other woman "I don't think she'd have been as mad if she didn't care."

"Maybe" acknowledged Vi with a short shrug "maybe she just hates the both of us now instead of just you", the redhead gave a sarcastic laugh and responded "she doesn't hate you, unfortunately I don't think she could...guess we'll just have to share you." The enforcer chuckled at the comment before beginning to hear the all too familiar strains of the Piltover police siren, glancing up for the first time in a few moments Vi was aghast to find a crowd of people assembled outside of Blossom watching the two of them hesitantly. Uncertain as to why they were stood there she turned her head to stare into the restaurant and couldn't help stating "shit" as she took in the absolute state that the place was in. There were tables turned on their sides, chairs thrown asunder, the front door was hanging off one hinge and there was food splashed across the windows and floor.

"Heh" snickered Katarina who was still clutching her elbow but had turned her face to take in the mess that the two of them had left. The sirens grew ever louder as a trio of police cars turned into the road and sped towards where the two of them were lying and crouching in the road, the redhead laughed at the expression on Vi's face and stated "don't worry, I have a friend on the police force." When the officers exited their cars they found the enforcer of Piltover covered in a fair amount of blood and rolling around on the ground laughing to such an extent that tears were trailing down her cheeks, and the redhead was crying with laughter also although occasional whimpers interrupted the giggling as she cradled a sorely misshapen elbow.

* * *

An hour later Vi found herself flicking carelessly through the television in her private hospital room, a comedian she quite liked had just made a terribly unfunny joke and the pink haired woman snickered. Pain surged from the deep cuts she had attained on her shoulder and neck when she laughed and wincing she tried not to do so again, resolving herself to watching the news. Groaning loudly she tried to sink backwards into the uncomfortable bed when she saw that the latest news story was their fight at Blossom and the property damage the two of them had caused. The rather attractive newswoman was speaking over an array of eyewitness photographs that flashed across the screen, one of which was Caitlyn slapping her outside of the restaurant. Sighing at the image she narrowed her eyes at their latest witness, which was of course the man with the biggest ego in Piltover, Jayce strangely had a bandage tied around his head. Turning up the television she furrowed her brows trying to focus on what he was saying "...well I can't say that they _weren't_ all fighting over me, I mean obviously they were mad with jealousy, hence the cat fight outside."

Shaking her head incredulously the enforcer couldn't help but to murmur "unfuckingbelievable" and listen in again as Jayce gestured towards his head wrap stating "unfortunate casualty of the fight, my table was knocked aside as the two fought for my attention and I cracked my head on a chair." Laughing in what he obviously felt to be a charming manner he continued "I was out cold so the theatrics afterwards weren't necessary, I mean there's enough of me to go around." Unable to help laughing at the sheer arrogance of the man, she felt a deep stinging from her shoulder this time and winced again pressing her hand against the bandage that covered it. "What a tool eh?" chirped up the redhead that had appeared at the door in a wheelchair, Vi grinned at her querying "feeling better?" Katarina nodded her head enthusiastically gesturing to the sling with her free arm and stating "I'm still pretty tipsy and now I'm high on pain medication, so I'm having a great time." Though she was positively beaming, the assassin couldn't help saying "ow" as the smile caused her sore looking cheek to throb painfully, Vi laughed in response.

"We're a state aren't we?" the enforcer pointed out happily, Katarina nodded enthusiastically again before stating "as if you needed stitches, you weakling." Vi growled good naturedly before replying "psh you're the one being pushed around in a wheelchair with a broken bone", the redhead pouted at her before answering "just try it again when I'm not drunk, you'll be in the wheelchair." Vi laughed once again, rolling her eyes at the indignant pout on her friends face and responding with a sarcastic "sure, whatever helps you sleep at night." Katarina scoffed at the comment turning to gesture to the nurse who was stood behind the chair and sighing "we don't need to listen to this. Isabella, take me back to my room" with a dramatic flair. The nurse sighed herself but turned the chair around and pushed the redhead in the direction that they had came from, as they left Vi could just about make out a frustrated "for the fifth time my name is Megan."

Sinking back into the bed Vi rolled her eyes at the antics of the inebriated assassin, she was fairly certain she couldn't live with or without that red headed fool, though wouldn't her life be much easier. The past few weeks had been so draining, it was so hard not knowing what on earth was going on with Caitlyn, if the sheriff did reciprocate any sort of feelings then why would she not be talking to her. Perhaps as Katarina had pondered a few nights ago when they were playing I have never, perhaps she was scared. It wouldn't be too surprising, Vi remembered her own fear upon realising that she had been interested in other girls in more than a friendly way, it would have been much worse if she had the fear of disappointing family members to contend with also. Staring out of the window she regarded the Piltover city skyline with a sombre expression, if Caitlyn had felt jealous and did like her in a somewhat romantic sense then what the hell did that mean for the two of them.

Groaning at the thoughts swarming through her head she raised both hands and pressed them covering her eyes, it had been a particularly taxing day and she was exhausted. Keeping her eyes closed Vi flicked the power button on the remote for the television and sighed sinking back into the rigid bed. Footsteps sounded in the doorway and without opening her eyes she raised an eyebrow at the nurse who had obviously stopped due to the sudden absence of noise. "M'fine" Vi murmured drowsily, furrowing her brows at the harsh fluorescent light blaring down at her from above, "just tired" she begun to trail off sleepily and rolled onto her side facing away from the door. "Tired?" queried a dangerously low and all too familiar voice, Vi's eyes burst open as she realised just who was in the room. "Tired?" repeated the indignant sheriff in a much higher tone, the enforcer found herself flinching at the shrill comment and though she couldn't see her, she knew that Caitlyn would have been stood with her hands on her hips and scowling. "I cannot fucking believe you!" screeched the furious brunette who stormed into the room and from the loud bang had slammed the door shut behind her.

Vi stared at a plant on her bedside table and desperately tried to exchange souls with it, if plants even had souls, she certainly hoped so but considering she was still glaring at the bright flower and not at a frightened pink haired woman, it didn't seem to be the case. The last time she had seen the brunette she had been slapped in an embarrassing public manner, and the time before that Caitlyn had lied to her about the date with Jayce and hurt her feelings pretty severely. Grimacing, she hoped against hope that their current meeting would end better, considering the way she could practically feel irritation radiating from the rapidly exhaling brunette she gathered that it was unlikely to go well. "Look at me Vi" Caitlyn demanded angrily, hearing footsteps getting ever closer the enforcer knew that the brunette was now stood next to her bed and was almost certain to be scowling down at her. Vi really did not want to and pretended that she hadn't heard, continuing to stare at the plant, wishing that she too was high on pain medication and that this was just a particularly vivid dream.

Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the willfully ignorant pink haired woman who she could see wasn't asleep and becoming increasingly agitated by the lack of response snapped "Vi" before reaching out to grab her chin and turning the enforcer to face her. Vi scowled at the tight grip upon her face and muttered "hey watch it" as she shook her head free, azure eyes blazing as they landed upon narrowed chocolate orbs. Feeling a touch sheepish and slightly self conscious Vi watched as the sheriff's eyes roved across her face and landed upon the stitches across her cheek and neck with a small wince. "For goodness sake, have you any idea how worried I was to get a call about you being taken to hospital?" questioned the brunette in what began as a soft murmur grew louder and ended up as a hysterical scream by the last word. Flinching at the harsh tone the enforcer kept her eyes on Caitlyn as she worked herself into even more of a frenzy, she was now pacing hurriedly back and forth in front of the bed and gesturing her arms wildly.

"Not only have you caused thousands in property damage, all three of us are now barred from the nicest restaurant in Piltover by the way so thank you for that, but you are supposed to be the enforcer of Piltover!" Caitlyn paused her tirade for a moment just to throw both of her arms in the air and huff angrily at the woman watching her hesitantly from a hospital bed, groaning loudly at the blank and fearful expression on Vi's face she continued. "The city expects better from you Vi, I expect better. You can't just have a drunken brawl in the street with your girlfriend after snogging the face off each other in public" the sheriff stated angrily, stopping to glare at the view from the window. She caught sight in the reflection of Vi looking perplexed, the pink haired woman went to open her mouth and say something but shut it promptly as Caitlyn turned around and stormed towards her once again with a snarl on her face.

The brunette leaned over the visibly frightened enforcer and brought her face to within inches of Vi's beginning a low grumbling monologue and narrowing her eyes at the other woman. "I have never in my lifetime met anyone nearly as frustrating as you, everything about you frustrates me. Sometimes you are so charming and thoughtful, other times you are the stupidest human being in the universe, you are so thick-headed and heavy handed and you just charge in to these idiotic situations. The worst thing is that I shouldn't care, I should just let you fuck up, but I can't, do you know why?" During the course of Caitlyn's comments, Vi had shrunk back even further into the harsh foam of the upright mattress under the fierce gaze of the sheriff, responding to the posed question with a small shake of her head. Caitlyn drew even closer to the pink haired woman and almost shouted "neither do I!" before groaning loudly and turning away from the startled enforcer.

Running her hands through her hair as she contemplated her flustered reflection, Caitlyn sighed once again and then dropped her gaze to the floor, closing her eyes and breathing in deeply. Her heart was positively racing and she knew it was for a variety of reasons, all of which had to do with the other woman in the room, thinking about Vi made it feel as if there was a lead weight in her stomach and she tried desperately to push the image of her and Katarina kissing out of her mind. All it did however was make the brunette angrier and even more frustrated, almost unconsciously she growled and across the room the enforcer watched her warily, bracing herself for the inevitable onslaught. Considering the foolish idea that Katarina had had for making the sheriff jealous, Vi was not surprised that Caitlyn was so annoyed at her. The comment that she had made earlier about the two of them being together was lighting a small beacon of hope within the enforcer, Caitlyn had sounded so annoyed and possibly even jealous, maybe it was a stretch but it was something.

"I'm sorry cupcake" spoke Vi gently, almost surprised at her own voice, she had certainly not meant to say anything to further provoke the already irritated woman, but it slipped out. Caitlyn froze at the sound and the comment itself, despite her best efforts she could not stop the warmth that spread throughout her body at the statement, both at the sincere honesty and the far too endearing nickname. It was fleeting however and within seconds she remembered the hideous evening that had just occurred and a visible flush spread across her cheeks and the back of her neck. Vi cursed herself as she watched the sheriff turn on her heel and storm towards her once again, this time almost screaming "how dare you? You're sorry? You should be!" Caitlyn loomed over the shrinking enforcer once again and continued to berate her "I have never been so embarrassed in my life, Jayce is convinced that all four of us are going to have some sort of orgy together and he has been telling the news, people on the street and probably my parents all about it!"

Vi opened her mouth to interject but Caitlyn gave a short sharp shake of her head and her eyes flashed dangerously, the enforcer wisely chose to shut it again. "The worst thing is that I didn't even want to go out this evening, my father wanted me to and the whole time I was out I just wanted to be with you." The enforcer's eyes widened at the comment but Caitlyn continued to power through her monologue "and while I was there missing you and sat with my dismal date talking about, spoiler alert, himself, suddenly there you are with her. The one woman in the universe who despises me, and she is drunk and she is flirting with you in front of me and I can see her grinning at me every. fucking. time." The sheriff had pressed closer to Vi at the end of her statement and was gritting her teeth painfully, visibly still frustrated by the memory. "Then she makes out with you in front of everyone and from what I can understand you then decide to get really mad at her about it and ruin the entire fucking restaurant and then break her arm. Like what the hell is wrong with you?"

After a moment of dumbfounded silence the enforcer furrowed her brows and deciding to throw self preservation out of the window glared back at Caitlyn and stated "what the hell is wrong with you?" The brunette was initially surprised by the comment and her jaw dropped a touch as Vi began to glower and the skin underneath her tattoo flushed, sitting up so there only remained inches between the two women. "Tonight sucked for everyone, I don't know whether you've noticed but I'm in the fucking hospital because my friend wanted to hurt you and I had a problem with that. Which is so stupid of me because do you know what cupcake, you deserved it." The enforcer's face became so flushed it was difficult to tell where the pink hair begun and she was now almost screaming at the still scowling brunette. "You stop talking to me for months after you flirt with me and kiss me on a balcony. Then when I think everything is okay again you lie to me, you lie to my face and go to dinner with that jerk." During her tirade Vi had become increasingly flustered and her eyes had narrowed to dangerous slits, Caitlyn was incredibly embarrassed by the verbal onslaught, primarily because everything her partner was saying was true, and it stung.

"So yeah Kat was a complete idiot tonight but you know what, she was looking out for me, because I can't cope with the way you make me feel" stated the enforcer with a petulant glare at the stunned brunette. Caitlyn was utterly shocked by the admission and felt her heart seize in her chest at the way Vi's voice had cracked during the last few words. "You hurt me cupcake, you never used to, just the last few months it's like you are hot and cold with me, which I know is a great song but it's not great to live with..." The pink haired woman shook her head at the tangent she had veered off towards and looked up into Caitlyn's expressive brown eyes murmuring "I just don't know what I did wrong." Furrowing her brows at the comment the sheriff protested desperately "you didn't do anything Vi believe me-" Instead of listening Vi shook her head and interrupted "don't lie to me, not again", becoming frustrated Caitlyn tried to answer again stating "no you don't understand I'm not lying, you did nothing-" Audibly groaning the enforcer rolled her eyes and cut her off with a sarcastic "stop. Just stop" before turning her face from the belligerent brunette.

Caitlyn stared incredulously at the pink haired buffoon, here she was trying to tell this complete moron that she did nothing wrong and actually what had happened was herself getting scared about her more than platonic feelings. Narrowing her eyes at Vi who was still staring petulantly at that godforsaken plant with her arms crossed, her frustration built up and she exhaled haughtily before launching herself forward and grabbing the lapels of Vi's suit jacket and pressing their lips together. The pink haired woman's eyes burst open at the sudden physical contact and she regarded the tightly closed eyes of the sheriff with a terrified glance. They had to have slipped her something strong to get her to sleep earlier with the other painkillers she had had because this must be a vivid dream, though she didn't want to wake up from it Vi found herself frozen. Caitlyn eventually calmed down from the burst of adrenaline that had accompanied her brash gesture and her eyes tentatively opened to find the other woman staring at her frightened. It was then that she realised that Vi had not reciprocated the kiss at all and she pulled away herself, letting go of the suit jacket and dropping her gaze to the floor.

"I'm...oh god I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking" blustered the uncertain brunette who was now sat on the edge of the bed and sunk her head into her hands, cursing herself for acting so foolishly and capping the final embarrassing act on a night filled with humiliation. "I know you're with Katarina now and oh for goodness sake she's going to stab me isn't she?" pondered Caitlyn, who was now staring hesitantly at the doorway obviously fearful of a psychotic redhead being stood behind the glass brandishing an assortment of knives. Vi laughed outright at the comment before noticing that the other woman wasn't laughing and queried "wait you're not serious are you?" and shook her head over exaggeratedly at the serious glance she received from the brunette. "We are not together, honestly, she did it to 'teach you a lesson' about the way you treated me or something, I'm not quite sure but she had two bottles of wine in Blossom as well as drinking at the summoner's institute beforehand so who knows what she was thinking."

Still perched on the end of the bed Caitlyn turned to face the enforcer with a wry smile and she begun toying with a thread on the edge of a stiff blanket, dropping her eyes to her hands again. It hurt to look at Vi right now, with just a touch of irony she supposed that it had to do with feeling rejected, to be honest she deserved it, every comment made by the other woman earlier had been honest and she had really hurt the enforcer. It was only fair to feel a percentage of that hurt, especially as she had made such an error in literally every single interaction she had had with Vi for the past two months. If the brash woman gave her a chance to make things right, she would do her best to tell the truth and she could even try and not be a complete sociopath, being cold and calculated were excellent traits in a detective, not so much in a romantic partner. "What did it mean to you?" asked a small scared voice not far from Caitlyn's ear, she looked up suddenly to find the enforcer had leaned in closer to her and had her patented puppy dog eyes on show. Rolling her eyes in the most affectionate manner the brunette smiled tentatively before responding to Vi's question with a low "lots of things" and leaning in closer to the pink haired woman.

Inside she was hyperventilating, screaming and crying as Vi watched the sheriff lean in ever closer until the two of them were mere inches apart, in fact she could feel warm breath land faintly upon her lips. Caitlyn was sober, she was here with her, she was leaning in, she had already kissed her, Vi gulped in a far more audible manner than she had anticipated and watched as the brunette gave a soft giggle at the action. That sealed it, heart soaring the enforcer let out a shaky "fuck it" and placed a hand on the back of Caitlyn's neck and crashed their lips together. The assertive action by the enforcer caused the sheriff to let out an almost involuntary moan as their lips pressed against one another violently, the low grumble caused heat to pool in Vi's lower stomach and she began to run the hand that had been pressed against the back of her neck through long brunette hair that felt as silky as she remembered and often fantasised about. In that moment Caitlyn did not care about her duties as sheriff, she didn't think about her role as Buxton heiress and she certainly couldn't have cared less about her sexuality or what it meant to be on a hospital bed making out with her best friend, only that it was taking place and it felt fucking amazing.

Unable to help herself Caitlyn smiled into the kiss and her heart surged as she felt Vi do the same, it was far too scary to think in abstract terms of love but even then, she knew that she cared deeply for the brash enforcer despite certain flaws. Pulling away slightly but remaining with their lips almost touching, Caitlyn panted somewhat and murmured "I'm still mad at you" before capturing the other woman's slightly bruised lips once again and leaning in to press her body closer to the pink haired woman. She wasn't sure if it were at all possible but she was certain that she could feel Vi smirk into the heated kiss, the enforcer pushed her back ever so slightly and stated "don't worry, I'm still mad at you" and laughed as their foreheads pressed against one another. "Just to clarify, you're not going to run off now are you?" queried the enforcer with a teasing tone, Caitlyn rolled her eyes once again and stared into the grinning face of Vi before leaning in close once again. Ghosting her lips over the other woman's she slowly closed her eyes and whispered "never again" just prior to bringing their lips together again.

As the sheriff leaned over Vi and began to almost straddle her she felt both of the enforcer's hands pressing against the bare skin of her hips revealed by her shirt riding up ever so slightly. The breath hitched in her throat and she nipped at the lips pressed against her own, asking somewhat hesitantly for entry which was immediately obliged after what she was certain to be another smirk from Vi. Feeling the moist heat of the other woman's mouth caused the enforcer to have like her fifth heart attack within the last ten minutes, even her dreams were never this good, they always ended with one of them turning into a dragon. Cracking one eye open tentatively, she was pleased to find that not only were Caitlyn's eyes closed but she also wasn't a dragon, the sight of the sheriff so engrossed in their kiss caused a blinding pain to erupt from down below however. Vi had to clench her eyes tightly shut to try and stem the moan that she was certain would be erupting from her throat any second. She obviously didn't hide it very well as she felt a grin upon the brunette's lips, choosing to ignore any embarrassment she brought one of her hands further up the other woman's stomach.

It was clenched with more force than necessary by the sheriff who pulled away slightly and muttered "ah ah ah, I don't think so bub, not very romantic is it?" she gestured slightly to the clinical room. Vi smirked and stated "damn and I was going to ask you to be my valentine" with an exaggerated pout, Caitlyn rolled her eyes in response before glancing up at the clock and pointing out "it's ten to midnight" in a matter of fact manner. "Well that changes things... Caitlyn, would you be my valentine for the ten minutes left?" posed the enforcer with a huge grin and her patented puppy dog eyes, glancing eagerly at the dark chocolate eyes of the woman above her. Staring down at Vi just then was when the brunette realised it was going to be impossible to tell this impossibly frustrating woman 'no' so she responded with a "hmm" and a sly grin. The enforcer pouted at the comment so Caitlyn giggled and relented by getting closer and just about hovering her lips over Vi's she murmured "yes" and leaned in.

* * *

"For the last time my name is Megan. Megan. It's not hard" commented the nurse snidely as she pushed the still inebriated redhead through the hospital corridors on their way to the bathroom. "Fine" stated Katarina petulantly crossing her arms over her chest and muttering "Isabella is a much better name though..." Rolling her eyes primarily because the assassin couldn't see her Megan sighed, she just wanted to get home and run a bath, she especially wanted this shift to be over with, champions were always a hassle, especially drunk ones. Narrowing her eyes slightly she caught sight of a light still on in one of the rooms and she directed the two of them towards it, it was definitely too late to have visitors and the lights should have already been manually flicked off. Outside the room she leant in closer to the small window on the door and glanced in, where she caught sight of a smaller brunette curled up into the side of their pink haired patient, furrowing her brows she could almost swear it was the sheriff, maybe silly top hats were far more common than she expected.

Lifting her hand to push open the door and escort the visitor from the premises Megan felt a steel grip around her wrist and glanced down to find dark green eyes locked on her. "If you open that door I'll stab you" stated the redhead with a dangerous scowl on her face, the nurse scoffed initially but felt her innards freeze at the evil grin the assassin sent her way as well as the obvious glint of a blade in her hand. Drawing her hand back as if she had been burnt, she paused only to turn the light off in the room and placed both hands on the back of the wheelchair with a nervous sigh. Katarina whistled jovially as the two of them continued in their journey to the bathroom, she couldn't help the shit eating grin that spread across her face however as she recognised that she was the best matchmaker in all of Runeterrra. Megan found herself desperately wishing she had chosen to be a vet as she pushed the hungover assassin through the halls of the hospital in the wee hours of the morning.


	12. Cupcake

Ayy lmao, I've risen from the death that consumed me following the fracture of my soul after the death of so many fictioal lesbians. I think I will forever be bitter, I'm so sorry this chapter took so long, I have no excuse aha I just got distracted by life, what an awful thing, getting in the way of writing fiction. Things are coming up Milhouse though, Paige is back and I'm so excited, I just can't hide it, I might even be about to lose control and I think I like it. As always, thanks to my fans for continuing to read this and I think after this chapter, overall views for this story will be over 10,000 which is phenomenal, might even cry a wee bit. If you like it, or you want to curse my soul forever, please leave a review, I especially like the ones that fuel my arrogance 3

* * *

"Yes father, I am well aware of what this means for you" sighed Caitlyn in what she hoped was a somewhat concerned manner, trying to hide internally just how much she did not care even remotely what his feelings on the subject were. Silence met her through the phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder whilst she attempted to continue mixing eggs into her bowl of butter and sugar. Rolling her eyes at the petulant way her father was remaining silent she knew that even though betting was a ghastly waste of resources she would have bet that he was scowling at her comment. He continued fuming silently for a moment until the sheriff sighed exaggeratedly and placed her bowl onto the kitchen counter with less finesse than usual, growing even angrier when flecks of batter splashed on her otherwise pristine counter. "Are you quite finished being a child?" she stated angrily, glaring at her hazy reflection upon the fridge door and running a hand raggedly through her tussled brown locks. An irritated growl came through the phone and she hurriedly continued "to be perfectly honest my personal life is none of your concern, yes before you start I know that you have a political image you've cultivated carefully over the years, it could be much worse though, at least I'm not pregnant or you know, running off to Zaun with an illegitimate love child."

Caitlyn attempted a light chuckle following the outlandish statement and only heard a low gurgling noise through the phone, it sounded as if her father was choking desperately, furrowing her brows at the strange noise a much nicer voice accosted her through the device. "What did you say to your father darling, he looks like he's having an aneurysm" spoke Mrs Buxton in a long suffering exhale, the brunette stifled an evil grin at his reaction and stated "oh nothing really, I just said that things could be much worse." A severe tut rang out through the phone and Caitlyn heard her mother exclaim "oh for goodness sake Jasper, stop being so dramatic", the sounds of her father attempting to sputter a response made her grin even more so and the sheriff couldn't help the swell of pride that surged through her body at the behaviour of her mother. Grinning widely Caitlyn manoeuvred the phone to her other side and placed it between her ear and shoulder once again in order to stir the batter again. Having been on the phone with her parents for the better part of an hour had made her restless, especially as she was in the middle of preparing her cupcakes to bake, the sheriff had never been one for patience.

"Darling _we_ just want you to be happy, isn't that right Jasper?" stated Mrs Buxton in a sharply acerbic tone that Caitlyn recognised as similar to her own whenever Vi had done something particularly incompetent. The thought made her grin initially but she sobered up somewhat thinking that their behaviour might be similar to that of a married couple, however it was far too early to be thinking of themselves as one. They were partners in the police force, champions in the league, best friends through it all and now there was another relationship thrown in there, one that was definitely not platonic. Caitlyn unconsciously bit her lip as she thought back to the previous evening spent at the hospital and couldn't help the wide grin that spread across her face, no definitely not platonic. "I know mum, thank you, it's been something I've had to come to terms with, but I dare say it would have been easier had father not been threatening to remove Vi from the police force." Silence permeated from the phone pressed against her ear and Caitlyn had to place the bowl down once again and check that their call had not been disconnected before she heard a dangerously low "what?" from the device.

Wincing somewhat at the absolute bollocking her father was about to receive Caitlyn couldn't help grinning at her mother's screech of "I can't believe he would be so juvenile, oh darling I'm so sorry." The brunette shrugged before realising her mother couldn't see her and replied "it is no longer of any consequence mother, I really care about her and I think we're in a good place now, so it worked out." The sheriff could practically feel the pride filled grin her mother was currently wearing, even if she couldn't see it, the woman had been almost ecstatic when Caitlyn had told her about the evening prior, well the latter stages anyway. She had been in no hurry to speak about the rest of an otherwise atrocious day, initially her father had been quite happy too, presuming that the date with Jayce had gone well. When she'd laughed uproariously at his hesitant question regarding engagement she couldn't hold it in any longer and told the two of them it had been Vi that she had spent the evening with. He had spluttered for a few moments but her mother had almost been delirious with joy, talking about how she had seen the signs at snowdown and how the enforcer was so charming and polite. Rolling her eyes at the memory of the conversation she was interrupted by hushed tones as the older woman stated "don't worry about Vi, I assure you her career is safe. I hate to be rude but I will have to call you later darling, your father and I need to have a serious discussion."

The severe and almost brutal way the last word had been stated left Caitlyn with no need to imagine just how serious their discussion was going to be, she offered a simple "goodbye" and her mother replied with the same before the tone cut off. Placing down the phone with a disgruntled sigh, Caitlyn ran her hands through her hair absent-mindedly in an attempt to placate herself, she supposed at least it was easier now that she had one parent on her side. It was only ten o'clock in the morning and already she felt drained, though that was usually a side effect of talking to her parents, at least they could stop pestering her about being single. Wincing ever so slightly the sheriff reconciled that at least for the moment she was still single, just interested in possibly dating someone, someone she had left in the hospital at some god awful hour. Chiding herself for having no courage at all Caitlyn slumped against the counter and sighed before reaching her hand out and grasping a handful of chocolate chips and filling her mouth with them.

Being woken up and then berated by a bleary eyed disgruntled nurse at six in the morning was quite a shock and the sheriff had almost barrelled the woman over in her haste to leave the hospital room. The walk back to her apartment had been a literal blur due to her tiredness and only a double tea had seen her fit to face the day, finding herself with excess time and energy she had decided to bake some fresh cupcakes for her yordle traps, though they were quite good at trapping pink haired buffoons too she reconciled with a smile. Not soon after she had begun mixing the phone had rung and she had wrenched it from her pocket frantically with a massive grin on her face whilst her heart leapt at the thought it was Vi before crash landing to the ground at recognising the Buxton manor home phone. It had been a difficult conversation but she was certainly glad that they had had it, at least now she didn't have to worry about their opinions on whatever was happening between the two of them. Reaching absent-mindedly for more chocolate chips she stared ahead trying and failing to not just replay the previous evenings events once again, a smirk spread across her face as evidence that she was not succeeding.

A loud and frenzied knocking interrupted her memory of Vi pulling their lips together roughly and she flicked her eyes towards the clock then furrowed her brows at the door, it was far too early for Vi to be awake and who else would be knocking this obnoxiously. Striding over to the door she peered into the peep-hole and caught sight of a familiar pink colour, biting down on her lip in an attempt not to smile Caitlyn pulled the door open and grinned widely at her partner on the other side. The grin subsided somewhat when she noticed the state Vi seemed to be in, namely bent forwards with her hands clenched on her knees and panting heavily. Raising an eyebrow daintily the brunette leaned slightly over the still wheezing enforcer and enquired "bit overdressed for a morning run wouldn't you say?" Caitlyn couldn't help the warmth that spread through her when the other woman stammered "had to...run...dream...you" and rolling her eyes jovially she stepped back into the apartment and gestured to the pink haired woman to follow her in. The sheriff sped over to the kitchen in order to get a drink for the near hyperventilating Vi who had managed to throw herself on the settee with a far from graceful thump. "Here" the brunette offered with a glass of water and the enforcer almost snatched it from her hands before downing it, managing to spill most of it down her face and onto her creased suit jacket.

Caitlyn shook her head at the thoroughly messy woman in front of her and stated "honestly" before heading over to close the front door that Vi had left wide open in her race to the couch. "Cupcake...I had weirdest dream..." trailed off the still wheezing enforcer who was staring unabashedly at the brunette who had just about fit in the gap between the pink haired woman's outstretched legs and the edge of the settee. "What happened?" queried Caitlyn hesitantly, a little anxious as to what had caused the enforcer to evidently sprint from the hospital to her apartment. It was then that she noticed the prominent flush that spread across Vi's face as well as the nervous manner she was exhibiting, particularly rubbing her hand on the back of her neck and opening her mouth to speak but closing it soon after. "Err..." the enforcer began but trailed off once again, raising her uncertain azure eyes to lock onto brown orbs of the other woman and offering an anxious sort of thin lipped smile. Furrowing her brows at Vi, the sheriff couldn't help but to exclaim "what's wrong?" and leaning over to press the back of her hand against the other woman's forehead, perhaps the gibbering fool was unwell.

"Were you at the hospital last night?" Vi almost shouted in reaction to the cool hand that had just touched her, Caitlyn withdrew it quickly and glanced confusedly at the quite clearly stressed enforcer, who had withdrawn her legs and was now sat upright staring at the sheriff. Her eyes were wide as they roved across the face of the brunette, and it was then that Caitlyn knew what was the matter, forcing herself to hold back the smile that threatened to overtake her face she replied as stoic as possible "no, I've been here ever since I left Blossom, why?" The disappointed and utterly defeated way Vi's face crumpled in response almost made the sheriff end the charade but she was still slightly miffed about the public humiliation she had been made to endure the previous evening and so she pretended not to notice. "Ah no worries, I just thought..." stated the enforcer apologetically, now looking everywhere around the room except at Caitlyn, who was not about to let her off the hook so easily and questioned "what did you think?" with pursed lips in an attempt to hold back the laughter bubbling inside of her. Vi looked absolutely terrified and made a sort of choking sound before gulping loudly and finally glancing towards the brunette almost hesitantly.

The sheriff raised an eyebrow at her partner to let her know that she was still awaiting an answer and Vi closed her eyes in response, throwing her head back against the settee and placing both hands over her face with a groan. Caitlyn couldn't help the triumphant grin that almost burst across her face as she regarded the clearly uncomfortable woman, she decided it might be time to put her out of her misery. She moved closer to the enforcer and almost pressed her body against Vi's side leaning in until her lips were inches from the other woman's ear. "Did you think that we might possibly have spent the better part of the evening on top of one another?" she stage whispered in as sultry a tone she possibly could and the effect was instantaneous. Vi had simply assumed that the brunette was coming closer to offer her a hug or something else comforting so the warm breath as well as the utterly flirty way the sheriff was speaking surprised her and she stiffened immediately. A few seconds later she turned her head towards Caitlyn who was smirking at her and she realised exactly what the brunette had just whispered to her and her jaw dropped.

"So wait, did that happen? Cos I was on some pretty strong drugs and it definitely felt like a dream" stated the enforcer whose face had scrunched up out of confusion as she attempted to differentiate between the memories of the evening prior. Caitlyn couldn't help the wide grin on her face as she nodded her head in response, Vi was still staring at her as if she didn't quite believe her before she narrowed her eyes at the sheriff and queried "but you were gone when I woke up?" The uncertainty in her expression caused an aching pain in Caitlyn's chest and she quickly explained "a nurse woke me around six and I kind of got kicked out." The statement brought a flash of mirth into Vi's eyes and she laughed before pointing out "who would have thought our sheriff was afraid of a big bad nurse?" to which she received a short slap on her upper arm from the flustered brunette. "Ow" cried the enforcer who over exaggeratedly grasped her evidently pain ridden limb and pouted at the woman now rolling her eyes at the theatrics.

Realisation struck Vi at that moment and she muttered accusingly "but if you knew and you remember, why'd you trick me, I almost had a heart attack here" she finished by pointing a finger at the sheriff's chest and jabbing her there. Caitlyn couldn't help the giggle that had been threatening her ever since the still pouting woman's arrival, especially at the over the top look of betrayal in her eyes. Deciding to make better use of those lips she brought her hand up and grasped Vi's chin before pulling the pink haired woman towards her and pressing their lips together with a surprised squeak from the enforcer. As their mouths moved against one another somewhat hesitantly Caitlyn was pleased to feel one of Vi's hands moving to grasp the back of head and pulling her in even closer. The enforcer pulled back only slightly and murmured "this is real right?" and looked imploringly into the chocolate eyes she would never tire of, in reply Caitlyn laughed lightly and placed both of her hands on the sides of the other woman's face and crashed their lips together once again.

This time she felt Vi absolutely grinning into the kiss and taking advantage of the slightly open mouth Caitlyn flicked her tongue outwards towards the other woman's lips and was pleased to feel a shudder run through the enforcer's body. Not one to be outdone Vi leaned across during the kiss to press the brunette against the arm of the settee and opened her mouth in order to thrust her tongue against Caitlyn's. The sheriff couldn't help the appreciative moan that burst upwards from her chest and in reaction to the smug smirk she could feel pressed against her lips she ran one of her hands through the unruly pink hair and kissed her even more fiercely. Necessities like oxygen forced the two apart and they stared panting heavily at the other before Vi started beaming and the sheriff bit her lip in an attempt to hide her own massive smile, it didn't quite work. "Now that's been cleared up..." began the enforcer in a jovial tone, before she pushed upwards and brought herself from her position atop the flustered brunette, landing next to her with an unceremonious thump. "...can I ask why you have flour in your hair?" Vi continued, attempting to sound serious but utterly failing to do so and reaching out a hand to run through Caitlyn's hair once again and bringing it up to show that there was indeed flour on it.

"Oh for goodness sake" gasped the sheriff who started to bat at her hair in an attempt to dislodge the offending powder, Vi couldn't help but to chuckle at her theatrics. "I was attempting to bake cupcakes for my yordle traps before my parents called" she offered in reply, still shaking her head and running her fingers through her hair. The enforcer smiled at her, a big toothy grin that caused her face to light up, thinking that Caitlyn could certainly be adorable sometimes. "Oh yeah? They alright?" questioned Vi in what she hoped was an off hand manner, the slight quibble in her voice told the brunette that she was nervous about the answer and her heart positively swelled. Initially Caitlyn sighed as she thought about the stressful conversation from this morning and she could see the pink haired woman furrow her brows, obviously worried about what had gotten her so bothered. "They are fine, I do have to tell you something though...and you have to listen" stated the sheriff hesitantly, adding the last comment when she could see Vi about to interrupt her, instead she closed her mouth and simply nodded, glancing warily at the brunette.

"Last night you were mentioning my behaviour following the snowdown celebration, in that I pretty much withdrew and stopped speaking to you for a few weeks" began Caitlyn uncertainty laden throughout her voice, she winced at the sheer look of abject pain that flashed across the enforcer's face. Vi nodded in reply but still remained looking quite downtrodden, it was not a particularly happy memory being rejected then completely ignored. "I mean it was quite a shock initially trying to understand my feelings, I've never thought of having any homosexual tendencies you know, I just happened to quite like you" continued the sheriff, almost blurting out her words in an endless stream trying to remain somewhat composed. "When you turned up at mine the next day, you didn't know but my father was in the apartment with me, he was..." Caitlyn pursed her lips angrily and tried to ignore the rage boiling underneath at the way he had spoken to her and about her partner "not keen shall we say? He was afraid we" at this word she gestured between the two of them "would harm his chances for re-election."

Vi's mouth opened to interject and the brunette reached over quickly before laying a small peck upon the other woman's lips, pulling away her eyes roved across her face. "You have to listen remember?" the sheriff reiterated whilst reaching out to grab one of the pink haired woman's hands and offering it a light squeeze. Their hands remained together as Caitlyn launched into an explanatory monologue "He stated that if I did not absolve any contact until the election...that the role of enforcer would no longer be necessary and I couldn't risk that, you told me months ago that this job is the first thing in your life that held any meaning and I would have died before making you lose it." The sheriff ran her spare hand through her hair once again with a sigh, Vi was watching her with furrowed brows and a concerned expression upon her face. "I'm really sorry that I hurt you" murmured the sheriff forlornly, imploring herself to keep the tears brimming from spilling upon her cheeks as she focused her attention on the rather nice boots that Vi was wearing. "Hey" spoke the enforcer gently as she reached out to grip the sides of Caitlyn's face gently and lift her chin upwards until the dark brown eyes flicked towards her.

The sheer depth of emotion that Vi was attempting to pour into her eyes as they roved across the sheriff's face caused Caitlyn's breath to catch in her throat involuntarily. The pink haired woman offered a small smirk before leaning in and covering the other woman's mouth with her own. Where words had always failed the enforcer she used actions instead to convey the affection coursing through her at that moment and so she moved one of her hands to the back of Caitlyn's head and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss as a consequence. Initially surprised by the forward movement, the brunette raised a quizzical eyebrow but responded by raising one of her own hands to run through already dishevelled pink hair. Vi was unable to help the massive grin that spread across her face and eventually descended into a frenzy of badly stifled giggles, pulling away and shaking her head at the confused and frankly adorable expression across the brunette's face. "There's no use worrying about something that's already happened" murmured Vi softly as she tried and failed to subdue the brilliant smile that was currently illuminating her face. "We can work through this, I promise, just..." the enforcer trailed off as she glanced upwards and offered a vulnerable shrug "don't cut me off again."

A soft melodious giggle answered Vi and she felt as if her heart tripled in size in response to the sound, Caitlyn reached over and grasped a slightly more calloused hand within both of her own. "I honestly couldn't if I tried Vi, and I'm not saying this to inflate your already substantial ego but I have missed you something fierce the past few months" stated the sheriff with utmost honesty, her cheeks reddening ever so slightly at the truthful admission. "Heh, too late it's massive now, I know that I'd miss me" replied the pink haired woman with a charming wink and an upturn of her captured hand to press their palms together. "You are insufferable" sighed the brunette wearily, rolling her eyes at the sheer arrogance of her partner but unable to keep the smirk from her face. The enforcer exaggeratedly rolled her own eyes and sighed loudly "fine, I might have missed your cupcakes, possibly even you...maybe" and finishing with a smug grin. Caitlyn pursed her lips in response and snatched her hands away from the thoroughly surprised Vi before crossing them across her chest and harrumphing indignantly. "Hey I was kidding!" explained the chuckling enforcer who reached over to grab the brunette's hands, Caitlyn merely shook herself out of the grip and stormed over to the kitchen counter with her back to Vi.

Shaking her head at the strange turn of events the enforcer watched warily as Caitlyn remained frozen by the mixing bowl, eventually she forced herself from the couch and strode over to the brunette. Just as she reached out a hand to place upon the other woman's shoulder, the sheriff spun around with a flourish and dropped a large amount of what could only be flour upon Vi's head. This was easily determined by the fact that the enforcer's vision suddenly became a murky haze and the reason why she could hear the brunette descending into a cacophony of high pitched shrieking giggles. "Tsk, how immature" bemoaned Vi who attempted to portray a sense of authority she definitely didn't have being stood covered in flour down to her shoulders. Caitlyn couldn't help the tears streaming down her face as she took note of the enforcer's sour expression, laughter soon turned into shrieks of terror however when Vi narrowed her eyes dangerously at the brunette. "Don't you dare!" screamed Caitlyn as she backed warily away from the smirking pink haired woman, though she desperately wanted to run from the revenge that was sure to ensue her eyes remained locked upon azure slits, wary of any sudden moves.

Vi advanced slowly towards the sheriff who was backing further away, matching step for step, the enforcer noted with a grin something that Caitlyn was wholly unaware of and continued forward with an evil grin. The colour drained from the brunette's face as her back suddenly hit the kitchen counter and before she could even search for an avenue of escape Vi had launched herself at the sheriff. "Looks like I've got you in my sights" whispered the pink haired woman triumphantly into her quarry's ears as she pressed the smaller woman against the counter top with her arms on either side. The shit eating grin only intensified when she felt Caitlyn shudder in reaction, either to the close proximity or the breathy play on her own catchphrase she wasn't sure but Vi enjoyed the physical response and decided to get her revenge in a much more interesting way. The sheriff was honestly finding it hard to breathe or focus on anything besides the woman pressed against her but her eyes shot open and a breathy moan escaped her when she felt lips pressing against the side of her neck.

A smirk soon formed there due to the noise the brunette had made and the enforcer moved upwards to the hollow of her ear relishing the shiver coursing through Caitlyn at the motion. Though Vi was thoroughly enjoying this, her playfulness of course reared its head and whilst the sheriff had her eyes clenched tightly shut and her head thrown back, the enforcer grasped a large handful of flour within her hands. Just as she nipped the soft skin at the shell of Caitlyn's ear she whispered "boom headshot" and dropped the large mound of flour upon the sheriff's head. "Vi what the hell" screeched the incredulous and incredibly flustered smaller woman, who was attempting valiantly to displace the hazy white powder from her eyelashes and gain some semblance of vision. She could just about make out a pink blur that was bent over and laughing heartily, scowling and crossing her arms the sheriff harrumphed and turned to stride away, she didn't get very far before a hand grasped her wrist gently and turned her back to face her partner. "Justice" stated the somewhat apologetic enforcer as she brushed back powdery white bangs from Caitlyn's face, the brunette rolled her eyes in response but couldn't help giggling at the sorry state she was sure the two of them were in, let alone the mess of her otherwise pristine kitchen.

A powerful swelling of adoration surged through Vi's chest as she took note of the adorable nature of the brunette's giggling and she found her eyes flickering between large hazel eyes and slightly parted lips. Unable to help herself the enforcer launched forwards once again and gripping the back of Caitlyn's head brought their mouths together for an impromptu kiss. A small squeak of surprise burst from the sheriff as she found herself assaulted with the unmistakable taste of flour and as Vi realised the same they pulled apart at the same time and began laughing at one another, raucous laughter that filled the small apartment. "Maybe we should clean up?" chuckled the enforcer as she glanced between the still giggling woman across from her and the flour that was strewn across the laminate flooring around them. Caitlyn chewed her lip contemplatively and queried teasingly "perhaps a shower might be in order" accentuating her statement with a raised eyebrow to convey to the enforcer that she was entirely aware of the connotations.

Both of Vi's eyebrows shot up and a lecherous grin grew across her face, as she leaned in to whisper what would surely be an innuendo laden response a loud knocking erupted from the front door. The two women glanced worriedly between the door and then at one another with puzzled expressions, there weren't many people who even knew where Caitlyn lived. The loud knocking resumed and became almost frantic in nature, Vi pressed herself upwards and moved towards the door, her partner close behind as they approached. The knocking continued and a loud "hey shitheads, stop fucking and let me in already" sounded from just outside in the hallway, Vi grinned as she recognised the voice and surged towards the door, flinging it open to find Katarina stood with her arm in a sling and a wheelchair in front of her. The sheriff had rolled her eyes as she herself recognised the noxian, even though she knew that the two had never been dating, the redhead had still seen fit to embarrass the living daylights out of her in public no less. Katarina stormed into the apartment with a "took you long enough" and just then seemed to take stock of the appearance of Piltover's finest.

The two of them were covered head to toe in flour and scanning her mossy eyes across the room it was obvious from where the counter was clean that they had been pressed against it together. Crinkling her nose in distaste the assassin turned to Caitlyn and stated "I'm not one to judge but flour is a really strange kink" which caused the sheriff to redden out of sheer embarrassment. Her eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms regarding the not welcome visitor who had seen fit to barge into her home and insult her, "What did you want precisely?" snapped the flustered brunette. Katarina raised an eyebrow at the statement and gestured towards her limb and the sling it remained within with a "duh, you left me in the hospital with a broken arm and Vi's fucking heavy fists." Vi glanced down almost instinctively at her hands and her eyes widened as she recognised that her gigantic fists were in fact missing, Frantically scanning the room, her eyes fell upon the doorway with a relieved sigh as she spotted her massive gauntlets sat on the wheelchair outside the room.

Katarina launched herself onto the couch with a graceful finesse that belied her wince at the jolt her arm must have taken, stating with as much nonchalance as she could manage "you owe me a favour" whilst inspecting her nails carefully. Unable to help herself Caitlyn snorted and crossed the room to stand across from the relaxed assassin, narrowing her eyes at the redhead who was by now playing with one of her knives. "I can assure you that the both of us owe you nothing, bar perhaps a quick exit" stated the brunette flatly, in response and entirely to aggravate the sheriff, Katarina smirked evilly and raised both of her eyebrows. "Way I see it, I got you two together, ergo you owe me, plus I dragged those things across town and look how happy Vi is" the noxian replied whilst gesturing towards the pink haired woman who was by now wearing the giant gauntlets with a flourish and shadow-boxing the air. Caitlyn rolled her eyes and was ready to launch into a long diatribe about everything wrong with the other woman's statement when the redhead interrupted her with a serious "I have a date tonight, I need to get ready and if I don't get any because of the broken arm your girlfriend gave me, I'm just going to tell the media that the sheriff has a flour fetish." Suffice to say, Caitlyn glared at the redhead but was unable to offer a response that didn't leave Piltover with an incorrect assumption about her sexual preferences, instead she hissed through gritted teeth "did you want to use an eye pencil or liquid liner...?" whilst cursing a higher deity for leading the obnoxious redhead into her life as Vi's best friend.


	13. Tactile

Hello there frienderinos, I'm like the worst author in the history of aids, although to be fair at least I didn't abandon you all on a cliffhanger or something, I've been burned by that one too many times. Basically I'm lesbian garbage and all I've been doing lately is playing Overwatch, standard League and watching the Legend of Korra, plus you know, the wife and kittens demand attention, curse their needy ways. Anyways, there's some plot brewing now, I know right, plot in my awful fanfiction? It's more likely than you think. As usual, let me know what you think, leave a review, confess your undying love, yadda yadda, I like it, but ya'know, I'm arrogant :D

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To be perfectly honest she should have known that this was going to be a hopeless endeavour, Vi had never been one to follow orders, instead taking them as mere suggestions and she had always been a very tactile individual. It always seemed as if the enforcer was unable to talk to someone without touching them in some way shape or form, be it an arm placed lazily across their shoulders or a hand clapped upon their upper back. So even though Caitlyn knew all this previously, it still irked her when even after numerous conversations about behaving professionally, a giant gauntlet was placed gently upon her waist as the two of them walked into the foyer at the police station. Immediately swatting the offending limb away the brunette warned "Vi..." in a low hiss as her eyes scanned the room a touch frantic, aside from the receptionist who was busy on the phone the room was empty. Breathing a low sigh of relief Caitlyn cast her eyes towards her partner with a dangerously raised eyebrow, entreating her to explain the social faux pas she had just swatted away.

The adorable pout on the pink haired woman's face almost made Caitlyn give in there and then, Vi's eyes were a deep cerulean and seemed absurdly large as the enforcer wobbled her lips a touch. Leaning in closer the sheriff whispered "we talked about this remember, we need to behave professionally...besides public displays of affection bother me" she finished with a haughty sniff at the idea before turning from her partner and striding towards the elevator. Vi narrowed her eyes as she seemed to turn over what had just been said, before grinning and running towards the lift that Caitlyn was waiting for her within, both waiting patiently for the doors to close. As soon as they did however, the sheriff found herself pressed forcefully against the wall behind her and a pretty familiar mouth upon her own. Losing herself for a moment Caitlyn couldn't help the small moan at the pleasing turn of events, running her hands through unruly hair and sending the goggles placed there clattering to the ground.

Moving her head slightly at an angle, Vi deepened the kiss and gripped the sheriff's waist even tighter until a loud ding interrupted the two of them and Caitlyn's eyes widened comically. Just as the lift doors opened the sheriff managed to shove her partner off herself but not anticipating just how dazed Vi would be by their tryst in the lift, she pushed just a touch too roughly and the enforcer fell with a loud crash onto their office floor. If a subtle entrance was what Caitlyn had planned, it certainly wasn't what happened as every head turned towards the loud noise and the disgruntled groaning from the fool on the ground. Commanding herself not to flush, Caitlyn stepped over the prone body on the ground and stormed towards her office, leaving the other woman to collect her goggles and her pride. Doing her best to ignore the stifled giggles and low murmurs that came from the cubicles, the sheriff raised her head in a nonchalant manner and pulled the door to her office tightly to after striding in.

Collapsing against it the brunette let out a shaky breath and scolded herself for the lack of composure that had seen her fit to almost be caught making out with Vi in the elevator, at work no less. Groaning she headed over to her desk and had just sat down when the door knocked, well actually a loud and incessant banging erupted and with a groan she knew precisely who wouldn't have the good sense to leave her be at the moment. "I'd like to be alone for a moment thanks" she snapped to the closed door and crossed her arms somewhat petulantly, eyes narrowing as she hoped that Vi found the good sense to leave her be. To her utmost displeasure a second loud knock occurred and unable to mask her irritation the sheriff stormed over to the door with a groan and flung it back with a sharp "what?!" Instead of glaring into the stupefied face of her partner however, Caitlyn found herself facing a rather rotund gentlemen that she was unfortunately quite familiar with. Eyes wide the brunette coughed to try and interrupt the awkwardness as every face in the office turned towards her, uttering a clipped "apologies Peter I thought you were someone else."

A loud snigger echoed from a corner cubicle and Caitlyn glared in that direction trying to find the culprit, her eyes landed on a giant gauntlet that was hastily being pulled out of sight and her eyes narrowed, she would deal with her later. Turning back to Peter who still seemed a touch shell shocked, the sheriff affixed her politest smile upon her face and queried "would you like to come in?" before taking his silence as agreement and striding into her office with gusto. The rather large man just about squeezed through the doorway wheezing and threw himself into the closest chair, the chair groaned and Caitlyn winced, thanking it for its service. Pulling the door to she headed towards her desk and quipped "so to what do I owe the pleasure?" raising an eyebrow upon sitting down and facing the fidgeting man. Peters small watery eyes scanned the room nervously before wheezing "Mr Buxton is indisposed at the moment, you know he's such a busy man, works incredibly hard..." "Yes, yes, he's brilliant, heard it all before" interrupted the sheriff quickly and with a touch more force than necessary, being in no mood for sycophantic rambling.

The look on Peters face at that comment could have been compared to someone being told that all the dogs in the city were to be euthanised, heartbroken and scandalised. His jaw opened and closed of it's own accord for a few seconds before Caitlyn flashed her eyes at him and clenched her own jaw, signalling that her already limited patience was eroding. The rotund gentlemen quickly sobered, recognising the look as an almost exact replica of Mr Buxton's and launched into a fast almost unintelligible spiel, of which Caitlyn only understood the words 'visit', 'highest priority' and 'necessary image'. Furrowing her brows as Peter continued rambling the sheriff held her hand up towards him and the effect was instantaneous, the speech coming to an abrupt halt, and his watery eyes widening at her serious expression. "Slower" she commanded, drawing the syllables out and narrowing her eyes at him, he obliged after a nervous gulp and a hasty adjusting of the glasses steadily slipping down the bridge of his nose.

"Your attendance has been requested at a diplomatic event in Ionia" began Peter after a stammered few attempts at speech, catching sight of the brunette's questioning gaze he launched into another rambling monologue. "Your father had the brilliant idea of sending you as a representative of not only the city but also as the Buxton heiress, you no doubt are quite familiar with the upper echelons of society having attended a fair few events in your time, not to mention that some of those attending from other nations are champions in the league and so you would be best poised to coerce any diplomatic agreements and foster friendly feelings between Piltover and-" "What part of slower did you not understand?" interrupted the sheriff through gritted teeth. It was quite apparent to anyone with eyes that Caitlyn was about ready to explode, a prominent vein was pulsing dangerously on her forehead and her eyes had narrowed to slits.

Before Peter could begin stuttered apologies, the sheriff waved the comment away and glanced upwards at the ceiling as if to gain some mercy from a higher power in dealing with this painfully nervous man. Pressing a hand against her throbbing head, the brunette grimaced before stating "so to summarise, my presence is requested in Ionia for a meeting that could prove to be beneficial for diplomatic concerns between Piltover and her allies, correct?" At his overzealous nodding she continued "I happen to be the best candidate because of my role as sheriff, position within the league and the heir to my father's name, correct?" A wide grin broke across the much larger man's face whilst he continued nodding enthusiastically, resisting the strong urge to roll her eyes at his reaction Caitlyn posed "well I suppose I don't have much choice do I? When is it?" The grin on Peters face flickered for a moment before resurfacing even stronger, becoming a caricature of a smile and he answered after a slight pause "err...tomorrow"

Raising both eyebrows in shock before hastily lowering them into an exasperated expression Caitlyn couldn't help the incredulous snort that followed his statement, considering that all her stare was doing was increasing his level of nervous fidgeting it was unlikely to be a joke. "Is there any particular reason I was not informed about this earlier...?" she questioned icily, eyes flashing dangerously at the harbinger of such news who was desperately attempting to sink lower into the already struggling chair. Watery eyes surveyed the room hurriedly, appearing to search everywhere for some avenue of escape, the sheriff scowled as he stared intently at the window just behind her. "Well, Mr Buxton was supposed to be attending but an emergency meeting was called by the chancellors" stammered Peter apologetically, his fingers twitching as they loosened the tie around his neck. Raising an eyebrow at the explanation Caitlyn queried "don't you think it seems a bit late notice to call a meeting with so many individuals so soon? How on earth was everyone free?"

Peter gulped at the question and for the life of her Caitlyn could not understand why he was acting so frightened, sure he was usually nervous but right now he genuinely looked moments from an anxiety attack. "Well you know Mr Buxton, he's quite persistent, I am positive the other chancellors had little choice but to make themselves free" he responded hurriedly, still eyeing the window temptingly. Unable to stop the exasperated sigh or the stressed twitch in her left eye, Caitlyn rose from the chair abruptly and stormed towards the door flinging it open and shouting "Vi, I need you." A low wolf whistle and something that sounded like 'that's what she said' were her only reply and with a low growl the brunette glared at the closest person, a very scared officer Vishwani. "She has just popped out for a coffee run sheriff, you know the stuff they order in here is awful, I'll send her in once she returns" stated the woman apologetically, once Caitlyn had nodded in response and turned to storm back into the office the other officer heaved a visible sigh of relief.

Only once the sheriff had seated herself back at her office chair did Peter think to say "why do you need your enforcer?" and almost immediately wished he had not. Dark brown eyes flashed dangerously at him and Caitlyn replied "what business is it of yours? She is my partner and should be aware of the trip we are going to undertake." Sweat seemed to be actually dripping from his forehead and was staining the collar of his otherwise pristine white shirt as he coughed before stating "I'm sorry sheriff but your father was quite insistent that you visit Ionia alone." "Oh was he...?" replied Caitlyn in as icy a tone as she could muster, surveying the flustered man with a furious gaze and crossing her arms whilst leaning back into her chair. "I wager that he also arranged the emergency meeting himself and asked you to wait until the day prior to the diplomatic visit to tell me about it so I wouldn't be able to object, correct?" drawled the brunette as she continued staring into Peters watery eyes. The fact that his eyes bulged somewhat and an embarrassed coughing fit was her only reply proved that her suspicions were as usual, spot on.

"Be sure to tell my father that he needn't worry, I shall attend in his stead but I will be taking Vi with me, not only is she an incredibly competent judge of character but she is best placed for helping smooth over any difficulties with problematic nations like Zaun due to her background" stated Caitlyn confidently, during her monologue she had stood from the desk and brought her face closer to Peters until their noses were almost touching. The way he had gone almost cross eyed attempting to keep her in his vision was almost comical and the sheriff relished how uncomfortable he was. "Considering that my father does not want Vi to accompany me it seems certain that he planned some sort of threatening exercise or correspondence whilst I was away and hoped that separation would help in splitting the two of us" murmured the brunette as she pulled back further from the wheezing man and sat herself gracefully once more in her reclining chair. Surveying him curiously the sheriff opened her mouth no doubt to continue berating the poor assistant once again but he was saved by a loud and sudden banging noise as Caitlyn's office door flung upon with such force that it cracked against the wall and one of the hinges came loose leaving the door at a strange angle.

"Ouch sorry cupcake, when you said you needed me in your office I didn't hesitate" stated the pink haired woman who now stood in the doorway offering an apologetic smile as she turned to Caitlyn. "For goodness sake Vi!" shouted the sheriff as she glanced between the grinning idiot holding takeaway cups and the door leaning diagonally against the wall, she had to admit that the sudden interruption had shocked her somewhat, adrenaline was still coursing through from her conversation with Peter. Speaking of, the rather large man had had his back to the door and was now leaning against the window behind the desk clutching his chest dramatically and wheezing painfully. Hearing the laboured breathing only then did Vi seem to notice the company in the room, "oh sorry mate, didn't mean to scare you, you know how it is, boss wants to see you, you'd better hurry." The cheeky wink towards Caitlyn after the statement was not lost on the brunette and she felt a sudden rush of warmth spreading through her chest, however she still had to shake her head at the flirtatious fool.

Peter continued to gasp incredulously pressed against the window, his eyes darting between the two other people in the room as he attempted to get his breathing under control, Caitlyn almost felt sorry for him. Striding over to him, the brunette held her chin up high and stated authoritatively "are we quite clear?" in a clipped tone that conveyed their previous conversation was all but over. Wide eyed Peter nodded but could not help blurting "but your father is not going to be happy", Vi glanced sharply towards Caitlyn upon hearing that comment but the brunette simply inclined her head indicating they would discuss it later. "It is of little consequence what my father is happy about Peter, where and when do you need the two of us?" she replied effortlessly, although unhappy about the news he was going to have to present his boss the still wheezing man acquiesced with a long suffering groan. "Travel has been arranged, your ship, the Valour, leaves port this evening at seven o'clock sharp" he managed to say without any stuttering, obviously feeling less stressed and anxious at the thought of finally leaving, if his eyes flickering towards the door were any indication.

"Thank you Peter, feel free to let yourself out" replied the brunette as seriously as she could muster, considering that the rather obese man was all but sprinting towards the door as soon as she finished, it was difficult to remain professional. He almost barged Vi out of the way as he left, she scowled before shooting a scandalised "hey watch it" as he waddled hastily between the cubicles on his way to the exit. Tutting at the rudeness the pink haired woman glared at his retreating form until she felt a soft hand placed upon her bicep, turning to face the source of contact she found Caitlyn retreating to her chair and slumping into it with a groan. Vi frowned at the behaviour before placing the travel cups gently onto a nearby cabinet, making a decision she begun attempting to affix the door back into place. Pleased with the fact it was resting in the frame, she turned to face her partner and found the sheriff holding her head in her hands with her elbows placed upon the desk. Frowning further she reached out for the drinks, which she thought looked hilarious within her giant gauntlets and sauntered over to Caitlyn with a soft grin.

"Hey cupcake, I got you a chai tea, I know you won't drink anything else from Sackhoff's" stated the enforcer who placed the aforementioned beverage in front of the moping brunette and took a sip of her own coffee, wincing at how lukewarm the beverage had become. Caitlyn sighed before lifting her head from its place and took in the sight of Vi grinning down at her, almost immediately her bad mood began to dissipate and slowly the corners of her mouth upturned. If anything Vi's grin intensified, pleased to know that she could have such an effect in improving the sheriff's mood, her cerulean eyes flickered at lips that were fast becoming an actual smile. Before she could lean in and act upon her own desires, the pink haired woman felt a fierce tugging from the collar of her jacket and with a surprised noise found herself pulled down and her mouth met with some force. Though initially shocked Vi relaxed into the kiss and tentatively reached a hand around the back of Caitlyn's head, gripping firmly and pressing further into the peck that was fast becoming heated.

A soft moan echoed through the enforcer's throat as Caitlyn gripped even tighter upon the collars within her grasp and turned her head slightly to the side, opening her mouth into the kiss and probing her tongue into the other woman's mouth. Unable to stop the cocky grin that spread across her face in reaction, Vi pulled back panting as she gazed into dilated pupils, the thought sent a shudder right through her body ending in a particularly sensitive area. Caitlyn grinned sheepishly at the other woman before leaning forward and placing a much gentler peck upon her lips, smiling as she did so. "Not like I'm complaining" began Vi with an arrogant smirk "but I have a lot of questions, number one, why are we going on a ship?" Sighing deeply the brunette relinquished her grip upon Vi's jacket, paying no attention to the creases she had left in the material and stood from the chair meandering towards the cupboard where her alcohol was stored. Pouring them both a tumbler of vodka, she instantly relaxed at the feeling of strong arms placed around her waist and the point of Vi's chin resting upon her right shoulder.

"What's up buttercup?" enquired Vi jovially as she turned her head towards the brunette's and landed a soft kiss upon her cheek, in response Caitlyn dropped her hands onto the enforcer's gauntlets and went to squeeze the cold metal before frowning. "You know your gauntlets do have a habit of getting in the way, how do you expect to feel anything with them on all the time?" groaned the sheriff, to which Vi only laughed in response. Leaning further into the woman pressed against her she sighed "you're deflecting babe, and yes that was my word of the day" rolling her eyes at the comment Caitlyn questioned "if your word of the day was babe I seriously question the authenticity of whatever application you are using for word of the day." A soft chuckle was her only response and the sound caused warmth to rush right through the sheriff's chest, shaking her head Caitlyn grinned before groaning at the thought of her next few days.

"Well normally I'd ask whether you wanted the good or the bad news, but I don't even know how to differentiate the good news from the bad" Caitlyn paused in her explanation for a moment to take a sip of her drink, enjoying the rush of strong alcohol even though it was only midday, it had been a very difficult morning. "Apparently my father nominated me to attend a diplomatic meeting in Ionia in his place, it is supposed to be about fostering better relations between the nations of Runeterra. Which isn't an awful idea, other champions from the league are supposed to be attending too, I am a touch curious about who might be there." Laughter echoed from the pink haired woman and Caitlyn turned her head affronted at the notion anything she had said was that hilarious "I'm still not seeing what's the problem cupcake" replied Vi easily before she too took a sip of her drink.

"The issue is that it is tomorrow evening and as Peter said we have to be on the ship at seven o'clock tonight. Not only is the port on the other side of Piltover and we don't know anything beyond the name of the ship, that doesn't even leave me any time to pack, I dare say that royalty and the upper classes are going to attend, I mean we need to look moderately presentable." During the sheriff's monologue she had become increasingly frantic, to the point her last few words had blended together and 'presentable' had been at such a high pitch that dogs in the surrounding area had looked around confused. While still panicking somewhat and breathing heavier than was usual, Caitlyn found herself turned around with her back to the cabinet that had their drinks upon it, with Vi's hands placed upon her shoulders.

"Hey hey breathe, it's going to be okay, I will help you pack, we will do it together and then we will enjoy a nice holiday in Ionia okay, look on the bright side yeah?" stated Vi as she squeezed Caitlyn's shoulders firmly and ducked down low in order to keep eye contact with the flustered brunette. Instead of taking in what her partner had just said, the thing that calmed the sheriff down most of all was that she could feel warm calloused hands upon her shoulders, not cumbersome mechanical gauntlets, she couldn't help lowering her eyes to land upon them. Vi followed her eyes with a quizzical expression and when she realised what they were focused on a vivid flush spread across her cheeks, "err, you said earlier that they get in the way so when you started to panic I kind of dropped them" began the visibly embarrassed enforcer as her eyes dropped to the hextech gauntlets that very well might have dented the office floor. "I'm surprised you didn't hear them, it was quite loud-" was all that Vi was able to say before once again she felt herself being tugged forward by small but strong hands upon her jacket and a searing kiss greeted her.

Grinning into it Vi acted upon impulse and after placing her hands upon the smaller brunette's waist she lifted Caitlyn upon the cabinet and placed her down, whilst running her hands further up thighs that were on show due to the wickedly short skirt that the sheriff had chosen today. Caitlyn could not help the excited gasp at the very forward actions of her partner, in response she ran one of her hands through unruly pink hair, whilst the other took a decidedly more southern trail landing on a very firm rear. The kiss grew more heated as the two decided to push one another's boundaries and just as Vi's hand trailed just underneath the skirt a loud "HOLY FUCK!" rang out from where the front door had been knocked askew once again. Officer Vishwani had moments ago been chosen by the rest of the officers to check out what that loud crashing noise had been in the sheriff's office, initially she knocked softly then normally with no response. Irritated she had banged quite harshly upon the sheriff's door and had caused it to fall from where it was resting in the frame to hang on one hinge once more, needless to say the sight within the room had shocked her.

The two women in the office sprung apart as if they had just been burned by the other, both attempted to fix their appearances, Vi hurriedly patting her hair down and Caitlyn was angrily pulling her skirt down. Immediately the sheriff became all business and demanded sharply "Sara could you come in here?" to the very very embarrassed woman outside of the door who attempted to look everywhere and anywhere but at the two as she entered the office and stood with her back to the broken door. Vi would have felt more sorry for officer Vishwani, whose entire face was now beginning to resemble a tomato, a stark contrast to her otherwise dark skin, if the enforcer hadn't been more nervous about the reactions of the serious brunette. Before Caitlyn could so much as open her mouth Sara, who was still staring resolutely at the wall and not the cabinet or the other women blurted "I just wanted to check what the loud noise was, I'm sorry, I won't say a word." The sheriff raised an eyebrow at the flustered officer but seemingly happy with the reply only responded with an authoritative "Vi and I are going to Ionia for a diplomatic meeting, I expect we will be gone for four days at the most starting from tomorrow, as the most senior officers, yourself and Thomson will be in charge in our absence, any escalated issues you will deal with, is that understood?"

"Understood sheriff" replied Officer Vishwani who still remained staring at the wall, although the flush on her neck was only just starting to recede, "is that all" she queried, Caitlyn nodded in response but Sara must have seen it in her peripheral vision as she quickly left the room, pulling the door back into the frame as an afterthought. Both Vi and Caitlyn stared at the door before glancing at one another, the pink haired woman offered a grin but it was quickly shut down by the fierce glare that the sheriff was aiming her way. "I told you" began Caitlyn through gritted teeth as she advanced on the apologetic enforcer who held two hands up in an attempt to ward off the scolding that was coming. "I told you that we needed to remain professional at work to avoid exactly that scenario!" hissed the thoroughly irritated brunette, Vi snorted at the comment and received a stare that could have stripped wallpaper. "You were the one that grabbed me though cupcake, I can't help it if you can't keep your hands off me" chortled Vi as she raised an eyebrow at the woman who was now a troubling shade of chartreuse. Her lifelong habit of using humour and cockiness to deal with embarrassing situations was still in full force and judging from the look on Caitlyn's face, it was about to be her undoing.

A loud cheer rang from outside the office just at that moment, Vi glanced towards the sound and tried to peer through the gap where the door had been left slightly ajar, she could still feel Caitlyn's eyes boring into her but was attempting to act so curious about the distraction that the sheriff would cease her scolding. Eventually it worked and with a sound that was something between a growl and a sigh the brunette turned from her partner and stormed towards the door, drawing closer she heard a loud shushing and a high voice harshly whispering "do you want them to hear us? Sheriff looked about ready to kill us all earlier." Curiosity peaked the brunette paused in her advance and lifted her ear towards the gap in the door, she caught whispered snippets of conversation until finally a deep confident voice stated "keep complaining guys but right now the only evidence we have is from today, so I'm calling it, pay up bitches." A female voice responded indignantly with "err no, it's really unlikely that the same day they would come to their senses, they would be so obvious, I mean really, it probably happened weeks ago."

Frowning at the strange exchange Caitlyn tried to understand what her officers were talking about, apparently someone was owed money due to evidence, her lips curled into a dangerous scowl at the thought that they were betting on cases. Another voice stated rather haughtily "it's going to be hard to prove that anything did go on before today though that's the problem, they've practically been dating for months, but obviously we only know about earlier, I mean look at Sara she's practically beetroot." At the mention of officer Vishwani and the use of the word dating, Caitlyn stiffened and her stomach dropped, it certainly sounded like- "hey cupcake I think they were betting on us" interrupted Vi who had appeared right next to the stunned brunette and was peering nosily through the gap in the doorway. "Yes I gathered that" responded Caitlyn sharply throwing the pink haired woman a scathing glance, receiving a nonchalant shrug in response. The indignant female voice from earlier spoke loudly once again and the two pressed closer to the door, "well I think they got together at Snowdown, remember they went to that party at the Buxton's? I heard that they wouldn't leave each other alone all night."

"Well she's not wrong is she?" murmured Vi with a cheeky grin targeted at the flustered sheriff, who rolled her eyes at the comment, one of the officers outside laughed before commenting "nah, it's been longer than that, remember when Vi was under Ahri's spell and the sheriff got seriously jealous? I think they were together then." Caitlyn gasped quietly as she recognised the slightly accented voice as Derek Thomson, she felt rather scandalised that her highest ranking officer had been involved in this ludicrous bet about her love life. "Is that true?" queried the enforcer with a cocky grin "were you jealous?", despite commanding her body not to react Caitlyn felt a flush creeping across her cheeks. Without looking at the still grinning buffoon she sighed before hissing "no" through gritted teeth, it did not work however and she caught Vi raising an eyebrow arrogantly in her peripheral vision. "Well unfortunately you guys have no evidence" stated the deep confident voice from before, he let out a satisfied sigh also, "unless any of you want to go ask them when they started dating I think it's fair to say that I win, if you have a death wish though by all means just go in the office and ask." "Dibs not" murmured Officer Vishwani hurriedly and all of the officers burst into laughter at her response, or at least they did until the door leading to the sheriff's office burst from where it had been leaning in place and landed upon the ground with a loud bang.

Stood there in the doorway almost glowing with rage and indignation with her hands on her hips was the sheriff, flanked on her right by a similarly frowning Vi, any noise in the room ceased immediately and the assembled officers started to pen their last will and testament in their heads. Caitlyn glared at each and every single occupant in the room before stating "I am so incredibly offended that not only have my officers been wasting their time on a stupid bet about my love life when they should have been working, but you also all did it knowing that I am a very private person!" Vi nodded her head in agreement before adding "yeah me too, not the private part though, I'm super offended for Caitlyn, shame on you all." Throwing her partner a withering look the brunette sighed before addressing the officers once again, this time with a raised eyebrow "we are all going to behave a lot more professional aren't we?" At the murmured statements and nods of assent the sheriff acquiesced by glancing at the clock on the wall and ordering "Thomson and Vishwani, you two are going to be in charge over the weekend, Vi and I have to attend a political engagement in Ionia, do try your best not to need us."

At their joint "understood sheriff" Caitlyn nodded before glancing at herself and Vi taking note of whether they had all of their belongings, "Vi your gauntlets" she stated with a gesture to the pink haired woman's very bare hands. Seeming shocked at not having her pride and joy attached to her arms the enforcer beamed at the sheriff exclaiming "cheers cupcake" as she launched herself back in the room to grab them. Caitlyn watched her go with a dopey grin thinking how adorable Vi was when she smiled, an odd noise that sounded like a snort that became a cough reminded the brunette of the other people in the room. Turning to glare at the assembled officers they suddenly sprang to life, quickly typing on their keyboards and two hurriedly picked up phones that had not been ringing and started conversing rapidly. Narrowing her eyes at their reactions Caitlyn felt a presence just by her right ear and suddenly she felt warm breath and a whispered "I like when you're the boss." Before she could turn and scold Vi the enforcer had already strolled past her and was well on her way to the exit, turning for a brief moment to send a cocky wink at the flustered brunette.

Caitlyn could feel the hot flush scolding her cheeks and grit her teeth in response, cursing whatever deity caused her to fall for the absolutely infuriating woman still smirking at her from the doorway. Taking in a deep breath the sheriff stormed past the cubicles paying no attention to any of the other officers and glaring at Vi, she remained silently fuming until the two women stepped into the waiting elevator. The rest of Piltovers finest watched with baited breath as the doors to the lift closed and suddenly a loud screech of "are you kidding me? I said PROFESSIONAL!" echoed from within. The rest of the inevitable scolding was lost as the elevator descended, the officers in the department turned to one another with wide eyes before erupting into laughter. Derek wiped away a tear before asking "when do you think the sheriff will remember we have CCTV in the lift?" and the laughter erupted once again.


	14. Valour

Okay, so first things first, I'm awful, so jot that down. Basically I'm contending for the title of worlds worst procrastinator and I kind of lost interest in this story, I know, I'm a monster. This chapter though has been haunting me for weeks, months you could say and I'm like, I've already hashed out most of it, lets finish this, for my fans, all three of them aha. I'm going to make more of a concerted effort to update bimonthly, I think any more than that and I'm fooling myself, so hopefully that isn't too bad for everyone still reading. To slightly make up for the months between updates, this chapter is a bit of a beast at almost 20k words, so yeah get in to it. Hopefully it isn't awful, please do let me know what you think, whether you enjoyed it, all that fun stuff. Reviews are like the best thing, they really do inspire me to write more, it's nice to be appreciated or so they say.

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At precisely thirteen minutes to seven in the evening, a group of sailors sat enjoying the crisp sea breeze outside of the Salty Butterfly, the busiest public house at the Piltover dockside. "Don't know about you lads but I'm off to Madame Maven's, haven't been onshore in ages, got an itch to scratch" bellowed the largest member of the group, a massive bear of a man with an impressive beard to match. The other two men cheered in agreement before raising their glasses for an impromptu toast, a dark skinned man eyed the blonde man next to him warily and groaned "I wish you'd have rum you absolute pansy, only uptown birds drink wine." The blonde huffed in response then took an overly dainty sip of the ruby coloured liquid within his glass, raising an eyebrow at the affronted man's irritated sigh. "C'mon lads, leave it be, I've got a week away from you bastards, row all you want when I've fucked off" stated the massive brunette, his gruff tone belied the grin hidden beneath his beard.

"Alright ya miserable git" laughed the blonde, shaking his head good naturedly while downing the remaining wine, then continuing with "honest, I'd rather stay here and argue, the wife has a list of jobs that need doing longer than my-" "you said you knew where you were going!" interrupted a shrill voice that grew louder and louder still. All three men glanced surprised at one another before craning their necks towards the alleyway the noise seemed to be coming from in order to better see what was happening. "It's not my fault, there must have been some reconstruction around here, like see this here, this is new!" protested a different slightly deeper voice. There was silence and then a terse "this building right here is new? This one with a ceremonial plaque that states it is the oldest building in Piltover?" Whoever this woman was she had become even more shrill throughout, there was more silence and then the sound of stomping feet became clearer.

"Fuck me, they're in trouble" whispered the dark skinned man to his companions as they all laughed at the obvious domestic, grinning at the alleyway they caught sight of a brunette just rounding the corner. She was seething, that much was obvious even from afar, her face was set in a furious scowl as she continued storming away from her companion. "Hey cupcake wait, I'm sorry!" pleaded the other woman who skidded into view slightly out of breath and laden with a duffel bag and two suitcases, she continued chasing only for the brunette to spin around suddenly and jab a finger into her chest. "You assured me that you knew where we were going, and you promised me that we would have more than enough time" hissed the brunette, glaring angrily at the woman in front of her. The pink haired woman backed off slightly as the smaller woman advanced on her, continuing to jab a finger dangerously into her midsection, "you are an absolute moron Vi!" she growled dangerously. The three men sat enraptured by the surprise spectacle in front of them, the blonde narrowed his eyes at the brown haired woman, he was positive that she looked familiar.

"Am not!" refuted the one named Vi angrily, knocking aside the finger that had been pressing into her chest and glaring at the brunette, "I just might have had my timings wrong" she stated with a slight shrug "plus I haven't been to the docks for ages so, you know, it's kind of your fault for not checking on the map." Stony silence met this ominous statement and the venomous stare from the smaller woman could have stripped paint, "you are unbelievable" hissed the furious brunette, before glancing angrily at her watch and sighing loudly. "Hey it's not my fault you took forever to decide what to wear" protested the pink haired woman who scowled at the over the top reaction of her partner, gesturing to the two suitcases in each arm she continued "and you still brought two bloody suitcases, we're only going for four days Caitlyn, if that!"

"Aha holy shit!" cried the blonde suddenly, fortunately the two women were still focused on one another and did not hear his sudden outburst, "lads, that brunette bird is only the bloody sheriff!" The man with the eyepatch narrowed his eyes at the two women sceptically, murmuring "I dunno Greg, I thought she had purple hair, plus there's no silly top hat." Greg shook his head at the notion, pointing with his pint towards the entertaining spectacle that was fast becoming a full blown argument about whose fault it was they were lost, "nah it's her Jacob, names Caitlyn, bit of a coincidence her friends name is Vi. Same as the enforcer who works for sheriff, got pink hair don't she, bet you half my wages that her over there has VI tattooed on her face."

Unbeknownst to the three men discussing whether the two women arguing were in fact Piltover's finest having an absolute domestic, the pink haired woman had just been warned rather stiffly "Vi, I swear, if we are not on that ship in the next few moments I am going to murder you, and as sheriff, I will get away with it, I promise." In response to the hissed threat, Vi narrowed her eyes at Caitlyn before grinning cockily and stating "I'd like to see you try, _Lady Buxton_ ", unable to help herself the brunette grimaced at the comment and her eyes flashed dangerously. Vi turned from the seething brunette satisfied at the response her comment had earned, and swaggered over to the men sat outside the Salty Butterfly. "Excuse me guys" stated the pink haired woman confidently placing one of her hands loudly upon the table they were sat around, and also inadvertently scaring the life out of them. All three regarded her worriedly before she continued "do you know where the Valour might be? Going to Ionia?" breathing a sigh of relief the dark skinned man grinned shakily and responded "yeah, just behind this pub there's a chip shop, turn right there and keep straight, 'bout two minutes away."

Offering a massive grin the pink haired woman replied "cheers mate", turning to tell Caitlyn she found that the brunette had already turned away and was grabbing her suitcases. Vi's face fell as she regarded the still peeved woman, she was interrupted from her sighing by the blonde man, who blurted "my wife gets like that sometimes." When he noticed three pairs of eyes boring into him at that moment he coughed nonchalantly and drained the rest of his tankard. Leaning in closer to the three men Vi raised a hand conspiratorially and murmured "between you and me, I think it might just be hormones."

It was immediately obvious that although the brunette was not supposed to have heard the low muttering, her scowl had intensified and she all but stormed out of sight. "Eurgh" moaned the pink haired woman at the reaction, gripping the bridge of her nose and dropping her head forlornly, catching sight of the bemused men sat staring at her, Vi grinned nervously and coughed "women eh?" Hurriedly she ran towards the duffel bag dumped unceremoniously on the ground and jogged in the same direction that Caitlyn had just left, calling out "hey, wait up, I was just joking!" The three men heard the voices fade until only silence remained, immediately the giant bear of a man burst into raucous laughter and his two companions followed suit.

* * *

Far removed from the jovial scenes outside the salty butterfly, about fifteen minutes into their journey aboard the Valour, Vi found herself walking in sullen silence alongside the seething sheriff of Piltover. Glancing over quickly to ascertain whether the brunette was still irritated, she pouted at the furious scowl on Caitlyn's face, the sheriff had not spoken another word to her since she had stormed away. It had not taken long for the pink haired woman to catch up considering her partner had been struggling down the cobbled streets with two exceptionally heavy suitcases, any offers she made to help were duly ignored as had her many apologies and so they had continued in silence. Making it thankfully to the Valour just as they were about to cast off, none of the crew appeared to mind their late timing however. Caitlyn was fairly certain that this was not out of any friendly inclination towards the two of them but very likely the captains wish to remain in her father's good books, which did not improve her already sour mood.

Caitlyn was currently trying her hardest not to spontaneously combust, a mean feat considering she was so enraged that her nails had been stabbing into her palm unabated for almost half an hour. Deep down she knew that a good portion of the anger she felt was towards her father for interfering in her relationship even after he had promised not to, and also because she abhorred being late. She just couldn't believe that Vi would say something so...chauvinistic and just utterly repugnant, especially about her and in front of strangers no less. The citizens of Piltover did not need to know about every detail of her personal life, let alone anything pertaining to her menstrual cycle, and how dare that buffoon blame her valid anger on hormones.

Lost in her increasingly frenzied thoughts Caitlyn was almost knocked backwards as she bounced off something in her path, scowling the brunette glared at the offending object and was disgruntled to find that Vi had just stopped in her tracks. Just as she was about to berate the enforcer for doing so, the pink haired woman brought a pair of keys to eye height and jingled them for good measure. The sheriff glanced at her surroundings and realised that the two of them were stood outside a door bearing the number 214, hazily she recalled someone stating that as their room number when they were welcomed aboard.

Rolling her eyes at the sheriffs clear desire to continue the silent treatment Vi hoisted her duffel bag higher and opened the door, gesturing for Caitlyn to go ahead, narrowing her eyes as she stormed into the room without speaking. "Thanks Vi, you're so chivalrous, not like you'd understand that word teehee" began the enforcer in an overtly mocking tone, gesturing to herself as she pulled the door to behind her, "oh it was my pleasure cupcake, anything for the woman who shouts at me in public-hey!" Unbeknownst to the pink haired woman, Caitlyn had been stood stock still, fists clenched and eyes narrowed as she awaited the door to click shut.

As soon as it did the brunette had wheeled on the thoroughly shocked enforcer and Vi was now letting out a huff of air as she found her back hit the door and an enraged girlfriend quickly bearing down upon her. Eyes wide she regarded the angry brunette pressed against her, "you are so childish!" hissed Caitlyn in a low and dangerous murmur, encroaching ever further into the other woman's personal space. Vi cringed back into the wall behind her, though she was never one to back down from a fight, the outright fury upon Caitlyn's face gave her pause and she eyed her warily.

"I have never been so insulted in my life as when you blamed my very valid feelings of anger on hormones and in front of other people no less" whispered Caitlyn harshly, pressing so close now that their faces were inches apart, the enforcer gulped nervously as her eyes flickered between narrowed brown eyes and slightly parted lips. Caitlyn scowled further, "you know what? There is absolutely no point talking to you, because everything is a joke to you!" The sheriff turned from her partner with a ragged breath, aimlessly running a hand through auburn hair as she stalked across the room, pausing only to begin pulling her suitcase open.

"Hey" began Vi gently, regarding the woman currently ragging everything from her meticulously packed suitcase the same way one might regard a ticking bomb. "I'm sorry if I upset you, it's just...you do kind of seem...tense?" her voice trailed off, as she continued to watch Caitlyn search for something, "come on cupcake, you know you like my sense of humour, I was joking!" That finally caught the sheriffs attention and Caitlyn stood upright staring at Vi, crossing her arms and raising an inquisitive eyebrow in the process. "I am aware, but I did not think I would need to add my bodily functions to the list of things you are not allowed to joke about, let alone in public" hissed the brunette in response.

Vi felt her eyebrows furrow at the comment and could not help her snapped response, "well who says you can tell me what to do?" Caitlyn replied instantly with a snort, "well I am the sheriff." Instead of the comeback she had been anticipating, the brunette felt her stomach clench as she watched Vi's face redden, shit that was not what she meant. "That's not what I-" "Save it" barked Vi, "yeah, I probably shouldn't have joked about you being hormonal, even though you clearly are. I've put up with you being an outright bitch all day." At this Vi grimaced, throwing her duffel bag onto the bed with a suspiciously loud thud, "clearly you don't respect me as a partner, as enforcer or...whatever this is." Her dismissive tone sent a shard of ice into Caitlyn's heart, instead of trying to apologise or do anything really, she stared resolutely into her suitcase. Jaw clenched, the sheriff tried not to flinch when she heard the door slam shut, with far more force than was necessary. Slumping backwards onto the bed Caitlyn sighed angrily, berating herself for the past few hours, she knew that she had been incredibly difficult to tolerate from the moment they left the police station. Instead of apologising for her awful behaviour though the brunette had become even more insufferable, taking Vi's moronic comment as fuel to the flames, and she had hurt her.

Covering her face with her hands Caitlyn groaned as she recognised that everything Vi had said was right, worst of all, if she had truly respected Vi as a partner, she would have told her about the situation with her father. If the enforcer had known the reason behind Caitlyn's foul mood, perhaps she might have been slightly less infuriating than usual, oh that wasn't fair, Vi was just being herself. Groaning loudly, the sheriff pressed her fingers into her forehead, sorely wishing she wasn't this emotionally constipated, she imagined that dating her must be exhausting. A loud pounding erupted from the door at that very moment and very hopefully Caitlyn launched herself at the door, almost ripping it from its hinges as she tore it open. Breathlessly she glanced up and down the hallway but saw nothing initially, frantic breathing caused her to lower her gaze where a man was hunched over in front of the doorway. He had clearly ran at great speed to get here as he was still bent forwards resting his hands on his thighs and breathing erratically, growing curious the sheriff stated "it's easier to breathe if you stand up you know."

At once the man sprung to life, jumping straight up and breathing in deeply, easier now he stood at full height, after taking a few gulps of air the man smiled at Caitlyn and seemed to compose himself for whatever he had needed to tell her so urgently. The sheriff was if anything more curious now that she took the man in, eyeing the slightly pretentious hat that he wore as well as the crisp clean uniform so unlike the other men aboard the ship, it was easy to ascertain that this was the captain. "Sorry about that Miss Buxton" he wheezed, continuing with "one of my men only just told me about your companion, I've already ordered the adjoining room free so you won't need to worry about the sleeping arrangements." Quizzically the brunette turned to survey the room behind her and noticed for the first time that she had earlier been sat upon a double bed, the only one in the room. This unleashed a flurry of thoughts unbidden into Caitlyn's mind, were they at that level of their relationship? Would Vi expect anything? Was Vi even going to come back?

Mistaking the flustered expression upon Caitlyn's face for embarrassment the captain coughed anxiously, his piercing blue eyes glancing furtively everywhere but at the brunette. "Once again, sincerest apologies, everything has been a bit of a jumble" began the captain in a flurry of speech, as he began pacing in place and looking every bit as anxious as he sounded. "I've only just taken over command of this ship you see, last captain...eh, he didn't get along well with the crew... but don't you worry, I was top of my naval graduating class, if anyone can whip these brigands into shape it's Captain Brook." Trying very hard not to laugh Caitlyn nodded at the explanation, that certainly explained why the captain looked so young, and also possibly why the crew was in such a foul mood as they boarded."If there is anything at all that I can do for you, don't hesitate to ask" he stated pleasantly before turning as if to walk away, he paused for a moment and turned to face her once again,

"I'm not sure how familiar you are with eh...ships in general Miss Buxton, but I would advise you to eh...use the lock" he stammered gesturing to where the bolt was whilst pointedly avoiding her eyes. Puzzled the brunette tilted her head questioningly until she grasped the point he was trying to make, grinning Caitlyn replied "though I'm not terribly familiar with ships captain, I'm quite familiar with the men aboard them." For good measure she picked up the rifle stood next to the door and held it plainly in view, though shocked initially Captain Brook soon responded "good, good, very well." The captain saluted her then turned from Caitlyn and almost marched back in the direction he presumably ran from, the sheriff watched him go while trying to stifle her giggles. It certainly seemed as if their trip to Ionia would take far longer than it ought to if he was the one captaining their route. Closing the door Caitlyn's grin slid from her face as she glanced upon Vi's duffel bag, perched precariously on the bed, glaring at the offending article she steeled herself taking a deep breathe before leaving the room.

* * *

At around the same time that Captain Brook had sprinted through the corridors in order to fix their sleeping arrangements, Vi was storming further and further down a flight of narrow stairs. Muttering darkly with her fists clenched as she continued walking with no real destination in mind. The pink haired woman continued to mutter, though now in a high pitched imitation "well _I_ am the  sheriff, you can't make jokes but I get to be a-oof!" Unbeknownst to the enforcer, she had marched straight into another person on the stairs, due to her stockier frame Vi had literally knocked the other woman onto her backside, from where the redhead was scowling at her. "Why don't you watch where you're going?" shouted the affronted woman on the ground, Vi froze for a moment, it was strange but she was positive that she recognised that voice. Before she was able to work out where from, the redhead asked playfully "how 'bout you use those big arms of yours to lift little old me up?"

Glancing fully at the woman now, Vi noticed firstly that she had piercing blue eyes, the second thing was that she was absurdly pretty. Flaming red hair and an awfully distracting body completed the image, it took the redhead clearing her throat for Vi to tear her gaze away from the ample cleavage on show to meet a very amused grin. Reacting immediately and desperately hoping that the flush she could feel creeping past her neck wasn't clashing hideously with her pink hair, Vi launched over to the other woman and pulled her up from the ground. Their eyes locked and Vi hastily averted hers to the left, staring fixedly upon a rather large rat that scurried out through a crack in the wall, "so, what's got you so distracted you're knocking pretty girls down the stairs?" queried the woman in an almost breathy sigh. Wanting to not discuss what precisely had led Vi to be in such a foul mood and outright fear that Caitlyn might find she had been checking out the woman in front of her, the enforcer blurted "I'm Vi."

Her hand had sprung up of its own accord and was ready for a handshake, the redhead raised her eyebrow at the obvious change of conversation but took the hand outstretched with a smirk. "The names Grace, Grace Smith" stated the redhead, brushing herself down she caught sight of the pink haired woman about to open her mouth and held her hand up. "How about you just buy me a drink to apologise?" she questioned confidently, anticipating what Vi had just been about to say. The pink haired woman grinned responding "sure" whilst turning to walk away from Grace who watched smirking as Vi turned back around immediately, admitting "I have no idea where I'm going." Grace giggled before grasping hold of Vi's right arm and pulling her further up the stairs stating "not a problem."

* * *

Roughly the same time that Grace had pulled Vi along the narrow corridor atop the stairs, Caitlyn found herself finally approaching the deck, appreciatively she took deep breaths of the crisp sea breeze. Below it had been easy to feel claustrophobic, with the confined spaces and metallic recycled air it had felt like a prison. Caitlyn had always thought better when she felt better and so she had hoped that coming into the open air would help her to decipher where precisely Vi might be. Stepping onto the deck and gazing out onto a vivid sunset splashed across the inky dark hues of the twilight sky was a welcome and exceptionally distracting change. A few deckhands glanced at her curiously as she walked up to the handrail and stared enraptured at the setting skyline, attempting to commit it to memory. Feeling a presence on her right hand side the brunette stated "it's beautiful isn't it?" when a particularly gruff voice replied "ain't no Piltover heiress though is it?" she spun rapidly.

Anticipating that it had been Vi who had come to join her had been a rather desperate wish now that she thought about it, as she glared at the offending deckhand to her right. The man gurned at her with his two remaining teeth and spat on his hand immediately lifting it to flatten his rather greasy combed back ponytail. Unable to even vocalise her abject horror that this man was attempting to flirt with her the sheriff shuddered, at that moment a different voice called out "Miss Buxton!" Caitlyn turned to face the familiar voice and positively beamed at Captain Brook, who was regarding the pony-tailed deckhand with utter disgust. "Fetch me Ronan, he's the first mate correct?" questioned the captain, taking the surly man's grunt and slight nod as a positive response, "he is to steer the ship while I keep our esteemed guest company." Willing herself not to roll her eyes at his brown nosing behaviour the sheriff took the escape offered willingly and followed the captain to his quarters, she needed to ask someone where the rum was kept, a hurting Vi would not be far. Glancing over her shoulder Caitlyn frowned at the awful smirk upon the deckhands face, he began gesturing to a few of the surrounding men who followed his leave, she was starting to have an uneasy feeling at the pit of her stomach.

* * *

"Okay, okay, never have I ever...been to Zaun" stated Grace confidently, eyes narrowing in triumph as she watched Vi down the shot of rum in front of her, without missing a beat the redhead poured her another one. "Gah, I thought I was good at this game" moaned Vi as she rested her head upon her hands, staring at the table and attempting to stop the room from spinning, she had lost far too many rounds far too quickly. "I've just had some lucky guesses I suppose" replied Grace teasingly, her eyes alternating between the pink haired woman still slouched over and the large clock over the bar, indicating that it was almost nine o'clock. Taking a deep breath Vi thought for a moment, then murmured "never have I ever...worked on a ship" her massive grin only intensified at Grace's eye roll and statement of "you caught me." Taking her shot smoothly the redhead screwed her face in concentration before landing on the perfect query, "never have I ever...slept with a woman."

It was obvious from the anxious panic that flashed through Vi's eyes that the answer was positive before she even opened her mouth, her entire demeanour had changed to one of uncertain hostility. Grace held her hand up immediately and stated "hey, no judgement here, I've done lots of things with women, just...not that" with a raised eyebrow and the hint of a smile upon her face. The effect was instantaneous, Vi released a sigh she was unaware of even holding and her posture relaxed back to an easygoing slouch, "well in that case" quipped the pink haired woman before downing the shot. After a moment Vi posed "never have I ever...been arrested" and the two grinned at one another, Grace laughed "I suppose a better question would be have I ever done something worth getting arrested for, I've never been caught so you lose, drink up." Growling good naturedly the enforcer drank again, her vision becoming slightly more hazy, this was good she thought, it was easier not to think.

"Never have I ever..." began the redhead, pausing suddenly she tilted her head curiously at Vi as if remembering something, smirking she continued "fallen in love." Viciously the enforcer reached out for her drink, downing it before pouring another and taking that as well, as she was refiling it for a third time a hand gently gripped her own. "This wouldn't have anything to do with the sheriff would it?" questioned Grace quietly, the shot glass clutched in Vi's hand fell to the table with a clatter, sending black liquid across the wooden surface. Vi gaped open mouthed at the redhead as wide eyes anxiously regarded the other woman, almost frozen in shock the enforcer just about managed to stutter "...what?" Grace raised an eyebrow at the astonished and frankly frightened expression on the pink haired woman's face, her hair an even greater contrast considering how the blood had drained almost entirely from her ghostly pale face. "Hey boss, oh..." interrupted a particularly gruff voice, both Grace and Vi turned to face the man now stood in the doorway.

"Ronan" stated Grace quite sharply, her head inclined ever so slightly towards the pink haired woman next to her, who was currently frowning in an attempt to focus her vision upon the new individual. His gaze roved across Vi's face before landing upon her tattoo and it was evident to anyone without hazy vision that his eyes widened in understanding as he realised precisely who the woman next to Grace was. "Sorry Grace, just wanted to see if we're still good, it's nine" he explained apologetically, the tone at great odds with his deep voice, the redhead smiled at him and it looked almost predatory. "Of course, I'm just speaking to Vi here" she replied smoothly, gesturing to the still somewhat shell shocked enforcer, "I'm afraid you might have to come get me later, once you and the boys are finished."

The dark haired man nodded, he turned to the stocky blonde behind the bar counter and gestured with his head for the man to follow him out, he promptly did so. Vi watched this strange exchange curiously, unsure of where the men were going and finding it strange that the barkeep would abandon his wares of rum, especially aboard a ship. "Men are always so serious about poker aren't they?" quipped Grace confidently as she strode away from the table and gathered an armful of rum bottles, sauntering back to the table and placing them down with a smirk. "Let's take advantage shall we?" she continued with a grin, eyeing the clock happily, taking a sip from one of the bottles and grinning at Vi, who still looked utterly flustered.

* * *

"Please do make yourself comfortable, like I said, this is my first journey so the quarters still have the creature comforts of the old captain" stated Captain Brook apologetically as he attempted to tidy the rather large room. Grabbing a large sack he attempted to cram as much rubbish in it as possible, hurriedly tearing down a photograph of a scantily clad and rather buxom dark skinned woman. Caitlyn watched him do so and also glanced around, scanning the belongings and the overall state of the room, it was a habit she had never been able to break and her work as a detective simply reinforced how easy it was to decipher what a person was like from their bedroom. From the overall state of neglect that lingered in the room as well as the awful smell it was obvious that the previous captain was not a very tidy person or a hygienic one at that. Various objects, some of unknown origin suggested that he was well travelled, as one would expect, the most curious thing about the room was a hole in the wooden wall behind the desk. Caitlyn walked towards it and crouched slightly, it was quite small and circular in shape.

Immediately Caitlyn's eyes scanned the room in full detective mode, a stiff breeze brought her attention to the cabin door that was being held in place by a large brass bust of some unknown military official. The lock was shattered, obviously it had been split in two by some force and cold air was being blasted through a large hole in the wooden door. Narrowing her eyes at the jagged twisted metal that remained of the lock, the brunette turned back towards the small hole in the wall and raised her eyebrows. "Captain Brook?" began Caitlyn tentatively, the man continued throwing litter into the sack pausing only to throw a charming smile over his shoulder "please, call me Archie." Resisting the urge to roll her eyes the sheriff grimaced before continuing "Archie...how precisely did the last captain leave?" he paused for a moment then shrugged "haven't the foggiest, I was just told that the last captain had left and that they needed someone to take over at short notice, naturally I volunteered." He finished his statement with a confident smile, giving the cabin a once over he nodded, placing his hat upon the desk and plonked himself down upon the chair behind it.

Hesitantly Caitlyn grabbed an upturned stool and positioned it in front of the wooden table, she was fairly certain that the last captain had been killed sitting precisely where Captain Brook now sat beaming at the slightly cleaner cabin. Based on the shattered lock it was apparent that whoever had killed him would have had to walk across the entirety of the deck with their weapon before kicking the locked door open. It was very unlikely that no one would see considering the deck outside had been teeming with men, the conclusion stood thus. The captain was shot, presumably in the head, in his cabin after someone, or multiple someone's, broke the locked door open with some force, after walking across the open deck in plain sight, with their firearm. Unbidden the thought of the deckhands smug grin as she had followed Captain Brook into his cabin, coupled with the fact that straight afterwards all of the deckhands had disappeared intensified the uncomfortable feeling in her gut to become a ball of ice.

"I do hope your stay in Ionia is fruitful, I'd relish a combined effort to oust those Bilgewater brigands from neutral waters, if only the politics could be shelved for more important things" exclaimed Archie as he enthusiastically began opening random drawers on the desk. Caitlyn couldn't help but be reminded of an exuberant child exploring their new bedroom, his childlike wonder reminded her of someone else and her stomach plummeted even further than she thought possible. Vi was somewhere on this ship still mad at her, possibly in danger from what Caitlyn was fairly certain a mutinous crew that would not take kindly to the pampered young man across from her ordering them about. Just as the brunette opened her mouth to convey her suspicions a loud bang echoed from behind and the harsh sea breeze swept into the room. "What do you think you're doing Ronan?" shouted Captain Brook as he stood from the chair, crossing his arms over his chest in an attempt to seem frightening. Wheeling around Caitlyn found three men stood in the doorway, she quickly surmised that their intentions were not friendly, ignoring their threatening demeanour entirely, her eyes had honed in upon the cutlasses at their side.

"What's this all about?" stammered Archie, eyeing the swords and nervously gulping, Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the men, this wasn't right, cutlasses weren't used by mutinous deckhands. Focusing now on the men holding the weapons the sheriff found neither the blonde to the right nor the bearded man on the left familiar, honing in on the man stood in the centre she cursed loudly. "Pirates" she hissed angrily, eyes narrowed at all three, standing from the stool Caitlyn walked next to the nervous captain and explained "that man in the middle, his name is Rafen." The dark haired man grinned at the acknowledgement, taking a small bow to the enjoyment of his companions, Archie looked anxiously between the two of them, stuttering "no, I was t-told he was R-Ronan, the first mate!" Scowling further the brunette replied "he is the first mate, just not for this ship" speaking directly to Rafen she demanded haughtily "where is your captain then pirate?" Rafen laughed uproariously, as did his companions, finally he grinned cockily at Caitlyn answering "not seen your enforcer in a while have you?" and the sheriff felt her heart seize in her chest.

* * *

"It was obvious you know" stated Grace matter of factly as she took another shot of rum, raising an eyebrow at the perplexed expression on Vi's face the redhead sighed and continued "you know, with the sheriff." The two had attempted strained conversation following Ronan's leave which had eventually dissipated into both of them drinking shots of rum silently. Vi said nothing but focused entirely upon Grace, eyeing her warily and waiting for her to continue, the other woman stared for a moment before sighing again and launching into a long explanation. "For one, it's all over the media that the two of you are inseparable, secondly you come aboard having a very obvious fight, thirdly you're gay right? I saw you staring at me, and finally you admitted you've fallen in love, presumably with someone who made you mad recently, it's pretty obvious considering Caitlyn is a miserable cow-" "she's not" interrupted Vi with gritted teeth. She had so far been sat in stunned silence listening to the utterly correct statements by Grace but even if she was mad at the sheriff, she wouldn't hear a bad word about her from anyone else.

Shrugging nonchalantly the redhead took another shot of rum stating "if you say so" and smirking at the furious expression upon Vi's face giggled "you're only proving my point that you're head over hextech gauntlets." Vi's mood further soured at that comment, had Caitlyn felt similarly then surely the sheriff would have found her by now, taking another shot of rum she grimaced, if Caitlyn found her drinking alone with some beautiful redhead she would likely never hear the end of it. Standing abruptly from the table the pink haired woman attempted to focus on the clock above the bar, realising that it had been over two hours since she had left their room her stomach dropped. Caitlyn was a detective, this ship wasn't even that big, either the brunette really didn't care to come find her, or something was stopping her from doing so. Grace watched Vi with narrowed eyes, it was not time for the enforcer to leave yet, quickly asking "would you wait for me?" while gesturing towards the bathroom, continuing "I don't want to walk around alone." Immediately nodding her assent Vi continued to stare angrily at the bar, however as soon as Grace disappeared into the ladies room she tore her phone from her pocket.

Quickly the enforcer attempted to call Caitlyn, the phone continued to ring and nervously she began to pace, walking aimlessly across the room. "Come on, come on" she entreated the phone, desperately trying to receive an answer through sheer power of will alone, Caitlyn's voice finally answered and Vi's heart leapt for a moment until she realised it was the voicemail. Sighing loudly she paced while growing further agitated, the tone sounded and she blurted "Caitlyn, I hope you're okay, look I'm sorry I said you were hormonal, probably shoulda talked it out instead of just leaving but yeah, where are you? Call me ba-oof!" During her aimless pacing Vi had tripped over something behind the bar, her phone flew from her hand and landed with a sickening crunch on the ground. Reaching desperately for it the enforcer groaned as she stared at the dark and utterly cracked screen, it would be of little use now, growling at whatever had tripped her she rolled over on the ground only to face a prone figure. Surprise flooded her features as she realised there was a man behind the bar, he seemed to be unconscious and was tied up with rope around his midsection and a filthy rag stuffed into his mouth.

Even through her alcohol induced haze Vi recognised that the blonde man who had earlier been behind the bar must have noticed the unconscious man, if not done it himself. He had also left with that Ronan who had called Grace boss, most confusing of all why did the two of them look familiar, she had recognised Grace the moment they had met, just not why. The unmistakable sound of a gun cocking led Vi to slowly turn her head in the direction of the noise, she might not have recognised the redhead earlier, but the two very distinctive guns now pointed at her head could only belong to one person. "Miss Fortune" hissed the pink haired woman still on the ground, eyes ablaze as she recognised 'grace' for who she truly was. "Sorry sugar but I've had my eye on this prize for months" exclaimed Miss Fortune, giddy at the thought of whatever she might plunder from the Valour.

"Rafen ought to have your girlfriend by now" pondered the redhead, grinning at the outright look of fury upon Vi's face, "oh believe me, I didn't want that serious bitch getting involved, as soon as you both boarded the plan was to keep you two out of the way. It's not my fault you barrelled into me on the stairs, I couldn't have you running off to sheriff dearest just in case, luckily my feminine wiles persuaded you." Grinning smugly at the seething woman on the ground she commanded "get up, and stay in front of me, one wrong move and I will shoot you, then I'll kill Caitlyn too, just for kicks." Laughing as if she had told the funniest joke in the history of comedy Miss Fortune wiped a tear away before jabbing the guns into the side of Vi's head and into her ribs once she was on her feet. Vi felt absolutely furious at herself for getting into this situation and also for not realising who she was sat with for so long, if Caitlyn got hurt in any way...suddenly hot breath teased her right ear as Miss Fortune leaned in and whispered "lets go kiss and make up."

* * *

"Don't try anything" warned Rafen who stood guarding the doorway with his arms crossed, narrowing his eyes at the two captives who were tied back to back with an ample amount of rope. Caitlyn scowled up at him from the ground before replying "what, pray tell, would we do?" gesturing to how fruitlessly she was able to move her arms. Archie chose this moment to state in a not altogether convincing tone "you won't get away with this!" and even the sheriff could not blame Rafen for chuckling, he turned to face the open deck and murmured "we are getting away with this." Caitlyn sighed softly, attempting to move even slightly so as to reach anything that would enable their escape, the endeavour was hopeless though, with a grimace she realised they were staying put for now. Hopelessness was a foreign concept for the brunette, but she truly felt trapped considering she had no idea where Vi was or whether she was okay. Rage coursed through her to the extent she could feel herself shaking as she mentally promised that if anything happened to her partner, she would personally tear Miss Fortune limb from limb.

"What are we going to do?" whispered Archie anxiously, his eyes flickering across Rafen's back as he stood blocking out the view of the deck, from the groans and murmurs outside of the cabin it sounded as if the pirates were cannibalising the ship. Caitlyn frowned as she surveyed their situation, it was unlikely that the two of them would be able to free themselves, she was almost certain that they would be able to overpower Rafen but there must have been almost a hundred more men on the deck. Grimacing the sheriff acquiesced "I'm afraid there isn't much we can do for now" she muttered darkly over her shoulder, "hopefully they just want to take everything of value and leave the ship somewhat intact." Archie's face blanched, wide eyed he questioned in a harsh whisper "what do you mean somewhat intact?" the sheriff shrugged as she continued watching their guard. "Miss Fortune tends to set the ships she captures ablaze once everything of value has been stolen" explained Caitlyn quietly, scoffing she continued "frankly I find it utterly immature behaviour, albeit effective, all captains fear crossing her path."

What little colour remained in Captain Brooks face drained entirely as he mouthed the words "set ablaze" to himself in a bit of a trance, Caitlyn's focus remained upon Rafen who had begun to laugh, his gruff voice echoed within the cabin as he called out "making friends eh?" Instantly the sheriff craned her neck attempting to see who he was addressing but his bulky frame blocked any view of whatever was happening outside. Just as she had given up a distinctly feminine voice responded "we were getting along famous, until she fell over that bartender." An obnoxious giggle followed the statement and Caitlyn stiffened, if the voice wasn't distinctive enough than that awful laugh certainly was, her heart seized in her chest as she glared hopefully at the cabin entrance. Footsteps grew louder and Caitlyn continued to hold her breath until Rafen stood aside and a longing sigh escaped her as Vi appeared in her vision. The instinctive desire to scream Vi's name and sob happily that she was unharmed fought ferociously with her more shrewd and calculating nature, which knew admitting such weakness in front of the pirates taking them hostage would be a dumb move.

It was impossible however to hide the soft smile upon the sheriff's face as she regarded the scowling but very much alive Vi in front of her, "hey stop jabbing me with that thing, I'm here alright, now where's Caitlyn?!" demanded the furious enforcer. It was then that Caitlyn's eyes narrowed as she noticed the guns pressed against Vi's temple and upon her side, bristling at the aggressive gesture she resolved to personally knock out Miss Fortune next they met. The enforcer was struggling against the weapons as she tried to turn and face the redhead smirking behind her, growling "If you've hurt her I swear-" "don't get cocky" interrupted Miss Fortune, raising an eyebrow in warning at the threatening tone. The two entered the small cabin and confusedly Vi glanced around the room, eventually a grin broke across her face as the relieved enforcer caught sight of the bound brunette smiling back at her. "Caitlyn!" exclaimed Vi elated, at the same time she desperately attempted to launch herself at the sheriff, in response the redhead behind gripped her tighter and pressed a gun painfully into her cheekbone.

"Rafen, I need you to tie this one up too, and get me the explosives" stated Miss Fortune with a smirk, when her direct order wasn't immediately answered, she turned to face her first mate, who appeared unusually pale. Raising an eyebrow at Rafen, the man stepped in close to her and murmured lowly, a vicious scowl spread across her face and she snapped "what?!" The first mate gulped nervously but reiterated "apologies cap'n, he's outside if you want to deal with him now" Miss Fortune glared at Rafen, her lips pulled back in a menacing snarl. "I don't want to deal with him now, I want my prize" she hissed angrily, eyes narrowed until they were slits, Archie watched the exchange anxiously. Vi however was currently mouthing the words 'are you okay?' to the tied up brunette in the centre of the room, her eyebrows furrowed as she visually checked over Caitlyn. Smiling softly the sheriff nodded her head, mouthing back 'how are you?', Vi pointedly looked at the pistol pressed into her cheek before replying 'can't complain.' Rolling her eyes at the fact that Vi could still be such a fool in dangerous situations like this, Caitlyn glanced at Miss Fortune, only to find that the redhead was looking thoughtfully between both her and Vi. The scowl upon Caitlyn's face intensified when Miss Fortune smirked, then pointed a frankly garish pistol at her. Vi struggled within Miss Fortunes grip, grunting as she tried to ignore the other pistol digging painfully into her face.

An obnoxious laugh followed and Miss Fortune whispered "if you want little miss priss to stay as safe as you see her now...you're gonna do a favour for me." Still furious at the threat upon Caitlyn's life, Vi glowered at the redhead beaming next to her, who shrugged at the reluctant enforcer. "I know you're not unfamiliar with robberies, a little zaunite like yourself" began Miss Fortune teasingly, cocking the gun pointed at Caitlyn and relishing in the sharp intake of breath from the pink haired woman. "Plus I need your gauntlets, there's something in the hold I've been dying to get my hands on...besides" grinned the redhead cockily, "if you help me out I won't shoot the sheriff, even though I really, really want to, so let's not play games." Someone scoffed and everyone in the room turned to Caitlyn who raised an eyebrow at the indignant redhead, rolling her eyes she stated "unfortunately for you, Vi didn't bring her gauntlets, I asked her not to as we were going to a peaceful diplomatic meet in Ionia...where we will now be discussing a combined effort to rid ourselves from pirates, thank you very much."

Vi grimaced apologetically and the sheriff narrowed her eyes dangerously at the pink haired woman, "you didn't..." murmured Caitlyn darkly, when the enforcer did nothing but gulp dramatically she groaned "are you kidding me!?" Both Miss Fortune and Archie watched the exchange raptly, the latter because he had no idea what was going on and the former with a devilish smirk. "It's a good thing she did bring them" stated Miss Fortune scathingly, still smirking she continued "otherwise you wouldn't be much use to me, and I don't know about you, but I've lost so many good outfits because of blood splatter." Gazing longingly at the wall the pirate sighed, snapping back to the moment at hand she grinned "lets get going shall we?" but as she passed Rafen she stalled. Turning to face the seething sheriff, Miss Fortune warned "don't try and be a hero, if everyone behaves there's no need for me to kill any of you." Caitlyn scowled at the captain, the young man next to her blanched, turning almost white from fright, Miss Fortune smirked at the two of them before turning back to Rafen enquiring "when is the ship expected?"

The first mate replied immediately "Gibbs sent word he has sight o' us, so not long cap'n." Miss Fortune glanced shrewdly at the surrounding area, a thick fog had descended during the last hour, nodding at the conditions she stated "perfect for a quick getaway." "Aye cap'n, the lads'r stacking all the good stuff at starboard, when Gibbs docks we'll be ready to go" answered Rafen confidently. Miss Fortune beamed at him quipping "I knew there was a reason I kept you around" before being interrupted by an irritated sigh. Raising an eyebrow incredulously at the woman in front of her the redhead jabbed the gun further into her back, entreating her to walk forward, following she stated "you're right, we're on a schedule, well...step to." Outside of the captains cabin, the redhead caught sight of a very nervous pirate stood by the door, scowling at Roberts she paused. "By all rights I should throw you over the side" she hissed angrily, relishing the way the seasoned pirate looked as though he might faint. "You're on guard duty, fetch the remaining crew aboard that aren't mine and lock them up" snarled the redhead, her tone utterly dismissive and her eyes viciously narrowed. Roberts nodded sharply before turning from the captain and sprinting across the deck, Miss Fortune watched him go before sighing happily "I've got a good feeling about this" and readjusting her pistol between Vi's shoulder blades.

* * *

"Hey watch it lads, you break anything of value an cap'll break your legs" shouted Rafen from the doorway, Caitlyn glared at his back, wishing she could set him alight with sheer hatred. Feeling Archie whimpering at her back she hissed "oh stop it will you" narrowing her eyes the sheriff took to analysing everything that might be of use in escaping within the room, again she found nothing and scowled, furious at herself. "My mother was right" murmured Archie forlornly, she felt him slump against her back dejected, he continued "I'm a disgrace to my fathers legacy, look at me, captured by pirates on my first voyage!" Although Caitlyn could not see his face, she was certain from the sad whimper that he was trying very hard not to cry, deciding that she had nothing better to do, she sighed asking "is he why you wanted to be a captain?"

Silence followed her question until he responded sadly "I wanted to be an inventor...dad believed in me, so did my brother Jack, he was the youngest captain in over fifty years." Pride filled Archie as he spoke about his older brother, Caitlyn could hear the grin in his voice, he sighed suddenly. "I was twelve when they died, a steel beam fell from a scaffold and it...it hit their car" murmured Archie softly. "I remember" replied the sheriff softly "it was a horrible accident." "Afterwards, mother wouldn't let me out of her sight" stated Archie, sniffing he continued "she missed them so much, she forgot that I was my own person...inventing was a waste of time and a disgrace to the family name." Caitlyn opened her mouth to respond when a sudden roar of "WATCH IT!" echoed through the cabin, both turned their heads rapidly to the source of the noise to find Rafen enraged. He turned to the two of them furious and warned "no funny business" before storming onto the deck and slamming the door shut after him.

Shouts outside grew fainter until the cabin was plunged into silence, once it was however Caitlyn turned her head to whisper "now's our chance, help me look for something to get us free." Archie blinked a few times but began glancing around the room also, worriedly he murmured "Miss Fortune said there was no need to kill us." The sheriff scoffed before replying "she's going to set the ship alight regardless, I'd rather not be on it so lets get looking." The young man sighed, anxiously looking around the room once again, he looked at the door, then to the brass bust, then again at the door focusing in on the jagged metal of the lock. "Hey, I think I've found something!" he stated quite loudly, Caitlyn shushed him and they both watched the door nervously, after a moment it was obvious Rafen had not heard as nothing moved. "Sorry" he whispered harshly, wincing apologetically "look at the back of the door, I think we could use the lock to cut the ropes off." The brunette glared incredulously at the door before positively beaming at the twisted metal that had once been the lock. "Great work Archie" she murmured giddily, "lets stand up on the count of three, okay, one, two, three."

With a bit of a struggle the two got into a crouched position and pushed with their thighs using the other as a counterweight, eventually they stood back to back panting slightly. "Alright, quick lets get these off" hissed Caitlyn as she began to walk towards the door, Archie being somewhat dragged along in her wake, walking backwards was a lot harder than it looked. Grinning over her shoulder at Archie she began rubbing the rope against the metal sticking out from the door, patiently she continued the motion while intently listening to the sounds from the deck. There was a lot of whooping and shouts, if she had to make an educated guess it sounded as if 'Gibbs' had arrived with the other ship and the goods were now being loaded onto it. Cursing softly Caitlyn sped the friction up, she grimaced as she recognised that if Rafen came to check on them it was over, the rope began to fray ever so slightly and the sheriff sighed with relief. "Nearly there..." she murmured distractedly, still listening intently to the sounds outside with sweat creeping across her forehead from the exertion, finally the rope split, cascading to the ground.

Archie almost whooped with ecstasy but Caitlyn slapped a hand over his mouth hurriedly, rolling her eyes she winced and lowered her arms beginning to stretch them, "sorry" he whispered once again, grinning still. "Now all we need is a weapon for when he comes back in" stated the sheriff while glancing around the room, Archie leant over and picked up the large brass bust exclaiming "how about this?" Caitlyn grinned again "tell you what Archie, keep this up and I'll set you up a meeting with some of Piltover's famous inventors, if you wanted to of course." Archie regarded her shrewdly as she grabbed the bust from him, finally replying "you really mean it?" in an awed voice. The brunette nodded still grinning as she stood just to the left of the door holding tightly to her chest, "I mean Heimerdinger and Jayce are close personal friends so-" "you're kidding me!" exclaimed Archie in a harsh whisper, running his hands through his untidy blonde hair as he regarded Caitlyn with wide eyes. He looked every bit his age and the sheriff smirked "lets get out of this mess first, then you can meet whoever the hell you want."

* * *

Although Caitlyn was free at the moment and planning precisely how to escape from a ship full of pirates, Vi did not know this, she was imagining the most awful scenarios her mind could conjure for the brunette as she walked through the narrow corridors. Focusing on one step in front of the other, the pink haired woman continued to walk forward, feeling the ever present jab of the weapon between her shoulder blades. The constant reminder of the danger they were in forced her to think quickly, if Miss Fortune wanted something from the ship this badly, it would not be good, for anyone. Even though she'd been trying the entire walk to room 214 to plan some grand escape, she had nothing, except just punching the captain. Scowling she stormed past the rooms being ransacked by cheering pirates, any in the corridor melted into the walls when they saw their captain coming. Finally they arrived at the door and Vi turned around to face Miss Fortune who gestured towards the handle with the gun not currently pointed at the enforcer. Sighing she tried the handle and when the door remained shut Vi shrugged "it's locked." The redhead narrowed her eyes at the comment, snorting indignantly she replied "I noticed" and simply gestured towards the door once again. The enforcer glared at her before turning towards the door and kicking with great force at the area near the lock, sending the door smashing open.

"Oh look, now it's open" quipped Miss Fortune, grinning cockily at the woman across from her, Vi rolled her eyes in response before heading towards her duffel bag, the sooner this whole thing was over the better. Miss Fortune glanced around the room disinterested as the enforcer pulled out her gauntlets with a flourish. Vi couldn't help the grin as she was reunited with her real hands, she always felt far too light without them, and began checking them over gently, as she always did. "When you're done fondling your gauntlets, you've got a job to do" reminded the redhead, who had been inspecting her nails thoroughly bored, leaning against the wall. Immediately Vi launched herself with a yell into the Captain who dodged out of the way at the last moment, diving to the side and rolling into a standing position behind the enforcer. Unable to control her momentum, Vi found herself launching straight into the wall, bracing herself she grit her teeth as her fist crashed through the metal and into the hallway. "Tsk Tsk" teased Miss Fortune, smirking at the woman currently attempting to pull her shoulder through the hole, "don't get cocky sugar, you think I didn't know that as soon as you had your hextech you'd go all ham on little old me?" Vi threw a dark look over her shoulder in response to the mocking giggle that punctuated the pirates statement, before finally wrenching herself free and turning to face the redhead.

Grinning mischievously Miss Fortune stated "shall we?" as she gestured towards the door with one of her pistols, the other had been trained on Vi from the moment she made a move. Reluctantly the enforcer turned to leave the room, pausing only to glower at Miss Fortune, whose smirk intensified, "don't get any big ideas-oh hello what do we have here?" Due to the absolute joy in the captains voice, Vi already knew what she had found and grimaced painfully when she turned to find the redhead touching Caitlyn's rifle, "hey get off that!" protested the enforcer angrily. Miss Fortune took no notice of her, grinning down at her prize, "oh this would make that do gooder absolutely livid" she breathed ecstatic, picking it up now and inspecting the weapon. "I'm not kidding, put that down or I'll make you" warned Vi as she walked over to the redhead, who gave her a withering look in response. "I think you're forgetting who's in charge here, you can't make me do anything" hissed Miss Fortune, who stepped further into the pink haired woman's personal space, though she stayed out of arms reach.

"If you get any more big ideas like threatening me, just remember I've got range sugar, I can shoot you before you even make a move" a devilish smirk spread across Miss Fortunes face at this comment until her face set once again. "The only reason neither of you has been thrown overboard is because I need you to get me into the hold, so with your little stunt earlier, I chose not to shoot you. Do you understand me?" Vi only scowled in response, glaring intently at the smug redhead, stepping closer to her she muttered darkly "you better hope I never see you again, cos when I do, I promise I'll destroy you." "Now now, what would the sheriff say?" replied Miss Fortune with a grin, slinging the rifle over her shoulder and cocking the gun "how about you turn around and we can go all the way down." Unbeknownst to the captain who was focused upon the sheer loathing within Vi's glare, the enforcer chose that moment to very carefully remove the shattered remains of her phone and place them upon the bed behind her.

* * *

"Okay, we're all set!" stated Archie with a wide beam, clapping his hands past one another for good measure, Caitlyn immediately shushed him and he held his hands up in apology. The sheriff was crouching low to the ground with her face pressed against the small crack in the door where the lock had been previously broken, her gaze was at that moment focused upon Rafen. The first mate was helping the rest of the crew to load the ship with their stolen contraband, gritting her teeth at such outright lawlessness, Caitlyn recognised now was not the time for heroics, even if she sorely wanted to. They were almost done with loading the other ship, that much was obvious from the remainder of goods left, Rafen was clever, too clever. He had not moved from sight of the door at any moment, constantly checking to see whether the two were still safely trapped inside, if not for the lackadaisical nature of his crew mates, the sheriff was sure that he would be locked inside with them. Though it was hard to focus on any particular conversations as the pirates were constantly rowdy, she had been able to gather some intelligence, primarily that the other members of the crew had been locked inside a storeroom near the kitchens.

The most disconcerting thing that she had heard had come from two pirates who had spoke quite loudly until Rafen had shushed them with a pointed glance towards their door. They had been speaking about something aboard that their captain wanted to acquire, it had in actuality been the entire reason for their capture of the Valour, and it sounded very much like a weapon. "Anything new?" queried Archie, surprising the sheriff and deftly apologising for doing so, Caitlyn shook her head, whispering softly "they're almost finished, he'll be back soon." As she finished speaking, Rafen had just glanced around the rest of the goods and barked an order for the men to finish, "no time like the present" she murmured. Nodding quickly at Archie, who in turn blanched and gulped nervously, the sheriff rose to her feet and tightly gripped the rather heavy bust before striding over to where the two had been previously bound and dropping to the ground. "Lets do this" murmured Caitlyn, as Archie wrapped the rope once again around the two of them, pulling it tout and gripping the end tightly in the hand not facing the doorway. Glancing quickly over the two of them, Caitlyn felt satisfied that Rafen would not notice any change, at least she sorely hoped so. A slight thumping distracted her somewhat and she realised that she could feel Archie's erratic heartbeat through her back, very slightly she reached back in order to squeeze his hand.

Caitlyn felt the cold sting of the sea air at the same time the door swung open, Rafen eyed the two of them with narrowed eyes, it was obvious he was checking they remained trapped. After what felt like agonising moments, the first mate grinned at the two of them before pulling the door closed and sauntering towards the captains desk, nonchalantly he passed the two bound captives. Archie let the rope fall loose at that moment and swung his leg out in an arc to trip the larger pirate, who was taken unaware by the move. He cried out as he fell to the ground with a grunt, whereupon Caitlyn immediately brought the bust down upon his temple. It was obvious he had lost consciousness from the impact, his body crumpled instantaneously and bruising began to appear upon his forehead. Both Archie and Caitlyn were breathing harshly, as they regarded the unconscious man, the two looked at one another and Archie was positively grinning. Letting out a sigh the sheriff hadn't realised she was even holding, Caitlyn grinned back, "we've still got to get past an entire of crew of pirates on the deck remember?"

The young mans face fell at the reminder, then he glanced at the prone figure on the ground and then back at the door, tilting his head in silence for a moment. Caitlyn watched the entire process, growing curiouser and curiouser until finally she snapped her fingers in front of Archie, "hey earth to Archibald." The man in question grinned at her, grasping both her shoulders he stated "I have a plan, but you're not going to like it" the sheriff stared at him deadpan before replying "if you have a way for us to get out of here that doesn't involve dying to pirates, I'm all for it." Taking that as a cue, he ran over to Rafen's unconscious body and lifted him from the ground, "gosh he's heavy, help me would you?" pleaded Archie, blowing blonde hair away from his vision. Caitlyn immediately did so, though she was unabashedly confused about what was happening, just as she was about to voice those concerns, she noticed Archie was walking over to the door as if to open it. Before she could articulate a statement as to the absurdity of that idea, he had already done so but had placed Rafen in the small gap left in the doorway, with both of them carrying him, it didn't immediately look as if he was unconscious from afar.

"What are you doing?!" hissed Caitlyn furiously, aghast at whatever this plan could possibly be, Archie did not answer her, instead he coughed loudly in order to gain the attention of the men aboard the other ship and those still on deck. "Cap'n said once the ship's loaded, she wants you all below deck and drinking all the rum until we set off, s'at clear?" he bellowed, in what Caitlyn would call the worst Bilgewater accent she had ever heard. None of the crew had the same reservations however and a loud cheer rang from the rest of the pirates in response to the very pleasing order. The ones remaining on deck threw themselves into their work with gusto, clearing the remaining plunder within moments, any on the other ship had already descended below their own deck. After a few moments only three members of the crew remained aboard the Valour, one of whom shouted "Rafen, are ya' coming?" Archie glanced quickly at the sheriff next to him, his face apologetic as he responded with another gruff bellow "nah, I'm keeping this piltie sheriff company, any of you bother me an I'll gut ya." The three men cheered loudly and another called out "aye Rafen, show her how pirates have their fun!" as they began to board the other ship. Archie immediately closed the door, though he remained close to the crack, listening intently until the sounds of their conversation faded, only then did he chance a glance at the sheriff.

As he had expected, she looked far less than impressed and a vein was throbbing dangerously at her left temple, her teeth were grinding together and her eyes were locked onto the poor captain. After a moment of intense staring, during which Archie wished he was able to erase himself from existence altogether, Caitlyn laughed, if anything this terrified him more and he blanched once again. "I can't believe that actually worked" began Caitlyn, who grinned at Archie's stunned expression, "I mean I'm absolutely furious that those pirates think Rafen is in here doing god knows what to me, but it actually worked. They're gone." "I know right?!" beamed Archie in response, still unnerved by the sheriffs reaction but content that she wasn't murdering him, he reached onto Caitlyn and pulled her into a tight embrace. The brunette froze in the embrace, never one for personal displays of affection she simply patted Archie on the back, he seemed to take this well however and let go still beaming. "Right, let's go save your partner, and defeat the pirates!" he stated enthusiastically, looking every bit his age, Caitlyn grinned back.

As the two left the captains quarters, Caitlyn readjusted the cutlass she had 'borrowed' from Rafen, who was now tied up with the rope and remained unconscious, hopefully for quite some time. Opening the door a crack she surveyed the deck, there was nobody in sight, though she could hear loud singing from the boat docked to their side, rolling her eyes the sheriff gestured to Archie to follow her. She sprinted across the deck, unable to hide behind anything as the pirates had harvested everything of worth that had been there, soon she found herself panting but with her back to the lower deck stairs. A few seconds later Archie appeared next to her, far more out of breath than she was and crouched over struggling to breath. "It's easier to breathe if you stand up, remember" stated the brunette, still watching the deck of the other ship in case any aboard had spotted them. "Ah yes, quite right" acknowledged Archie, standing at full height and breathing in deeply, satisfied with his levels of oxygen, he turned and with a deep breath opened the door behind them. Caitlyn stared into the inky darkness, scrutinising every sound but she found nothing suspect, an unbidden thought that Vi was down here caused her jaw to clench. The only thing standing between her and her partner was a particular red headed wench, Caitlyn gripped the handle of the cutlass tighter before descending the staircase, Archie following close behind.

* * *

Far further down within the confines of the Valour, the Piltover enforcer and her captor were still walking towards an as of yet unknown location, Vi had been trying to work out where they were going for quite some time. They were definitely heading towards the absolute bottom of the ship, not only that, the décor had become even less appealing, it was evident that passengers did not venture this low usually. A low thrumming noise caught the pink haired woman's attention, it was growing louder so she could only conclude they were headed towards- "why are we going to the engine room?" she asked tersely over her shoulder. Miss Fortune chuckled lowly, replying "not just a pretty face huh?" keeping one pistol trained on Vi's upper back, she continued "like I said, there is something in there that I want, help me get it and I won't set the ship alight with you on it." "Gee thanks" responded Vi, her voice dripping with sarcasm, finally they were coming to the end of an industrial looking hallway, the enforcer reached out to open the hold door and found it was locked. "I guess whatever you want is in here right?" stated Vi, who turned to face the redhead behind her, the captain simply raised an eyebrow and grinned, "bingo, get to work then sugar."

Taking a deep breath the enforcer turned towards the large hold door, scrutinising it for weak points, it appeared to be rather thick steel, nothing a good punch couldn't get through. Cracking her knuckles for good measure, Vi placed herself into a boxers stance and bounced on the spot for a few moments, limbering herself up. Truth be told, she was stalling, whatever it was that Miss Fortune wanted to acquire in the engine room, Vi certainly did not want to hand it to her. Plus, she thought as she stretched her shoulders, if she knew Caitlyn as well as she did, the sheriff was almost certain to have a plan to get them out of this, she just had to buy some time. "Are you done?" stated the captain tersely, watching the pink haired woman bounce around was making her quite nauseous, and it was growing rather tiresome. "Hey, who's the one that punches things for a living?" quipped Vi, raising an eyebrow mockingly and causing the scowl on Miss Fortunes face to deepen. Vi nodded at the captain before launching back into a series of over exaggerated stretches, lunging across the floor and raising her arms above her head in a windmill motion.

Miss Fortune rolled her eyes at the obnoxious woman, cursing that insufferable fool Roberts, whose only task was to make sure they boarded the Valour with explosives. She was a merciful captain if nothing else, instead of throwing him overboard and leaving him to drown, he was now stood watching guard over the remaining crew mates of the Valour. She was probably still going to shoot him however once this heist was finished, there was no room for incompetency aboard her ship, especially when it leaves her stuck with a show boating moron. Shaking herself from her thoughts, Miss Fortune glanced at the enforcer, who was now doing a handstand with her feet resting against the wall behind her, and grimaced. "I don't care if you pull every muscle in your body, you're opening that door right now" threatened the redhead, pointing both of her pistols at the bemused woman. "Eurgh fine" groaned Vi, who fell to the ground ungracefully in a heap before springing up and rolling her shoulders once more, "it's getting old you pointing those things at me, just so you know." Miss Fortune narrowed her eyes in response, keeping the pistols trained on her unwilling captive, Vi rolled her eyes at the reaction before stating "stand back, here comes the punchline!"

With a loud grunt, the pink haired woman pulled her arm as far back as she could, and launched herself straight into the thick hold door, aiming for the spot closest to the lock and hitting it with full force. The effect was instantaneous, the steel crumpled where the gauntlet had made contact and the indentations from the finger joints were noticeable within the metal. Instead of swinging open, the entire door flew from its hinges and landed halfway across the room, almost on top of a large oblong device that was thrumming quite loudly. Vi was unable to help the rather cocky grin on her face as she turned to face the unimpressed redhead, flexing both of her arms for good measure and strutting into the engine room. Miss Fortune followed her greedily scanning the room for what might contain her prize, her eyes locked onto a promising rectangular box in the far right corner and she directed Vi towards it. As the two walked further into the engine room, neither one was aware of the water that was steadily leaking across the floor from a valve that connected to the oblong device. A valve that had just had a rather heavy steel door land upon it, and was now causing the boiler it connected with to lose pressure and begin to slowly but surely overheat.

* * *

The most disconcerting thing about their journey through the hold, was the unerring silence. Caitlyn and Archie had not seen another living soul as of yet and it was becoming unnerving, the two had been very carefully walking through the corridors, slowly but steadily making their way to room 214. The sheriff had been particularly intransigent about fetching her rifle, despite the cutlass she never felt safe without her trusty weapon, especially in dangerous situations. Caitlyn was fairly certain that a ship commandeered by pirates fit the category of dangerous, grimacing at the thought, the brunette continued stalking through the hallway until she faced a corner. Archie paused too, even though he occasionally shook with nerves, the young man had been watching their descent and checking no one was following them. Silently the sheriff edged closer to the wall, chancing a quick glance down the adjoining hallway to find it was also clear, gesturing this to Archie, the two moved on. After a moment of creeping along the wall, Caitlyn found herself at door 212, sighing in relief she headed for their room only to tighten her grip upon the cutlass at her side.

Frowning she surveyed that the door had been kicked in, and so she entered the room very cautiously, immediately she saw the two suitcases and the now rather empty duffel bag. The sight of which caused her to clench her jaw, honestly most of the time she might as well give lectures to a brick wall instead of Vi for all the good it did. Curiously she couldn't find her rifle, furrowing her brows the sheriff checked the room over once more before remembering showing it to Archie when they first met. Even though it should have been leaning against the wall by the door frame, she could not find it, crouching low the brunette inspected the floor nearby. "What's this?" queried Archie, who was tilting his head curiously at what looked to be a particularly battered device of some sort, with a shattered screen and exposed circuitry. Caitlyn stood from her crouched position and stalked over to inspect whatever had grabbed Archie's attention, recognition struck her and she quickly grabbed what she surmised to be the remnants of Vi's phone. Gripping it tightly the brunette scowled fiercely, if Vi looked anything like this phone she was going to be on trial for murder.

Realisation hit her like a freight train and Caitlyn cursed loudly, hissing "that absolute bitch!" before she ran over to the suitcase that was still open upon the bed and begun tearing through it at breakneck speed. Archie raised an eyebrow at the strange behaviour, feeling very curious as to what was happening at the moment, "aha!" shrieked the jubilant sheriff. The blonde watched Caitlyn intently, as she pulled out a phone from within the confines of her suitcase, he began to let out an ecstatic whoop. Shushing him with a grin still on her face, Caitlyn quickly tapped a few buttons and then held the phone to her face, waiting impatiently for the other end to pick up. After what felt like hours, the brunette sighed in relief and stated "yes I am aware we are late, it might be because our ship was commandeered by Miss Fortune and her crew." The young man was unable to hear the other side of the conversation as Caitlyn was pacing around the cabin, so he crossed his arms and watched the brunette. "Intel wise I can tell you that the vast majority of the crew are on their own ship, the first mate has been apprehended and the captain is currently attempting to seize a weapon that is aboard." The sheriff paused in place, then responded angrily "no I don't know where it is, nor what it is" silence again and then a loud exclamation of "for goodness sake!"

Caitlyn shook her head angrily at the blonde, who frowned back unsure of what was making the sheriff so antsy. She froze in place again, listening intently to the other side and stated tersely "Miss Fortune has my rifle, as well as my partner!" A shorter silence and then a grateful "I shall keep it on me, goodbye" sighing Caitlyn placed the phone into her skirt pocket and turned to face Archie. "Lets go" she ordered sharply, storming from the room and leaving Archie to jog after her, "what's happened?" he murmured anxiously, still glancing behind them after every step. The brunette continued creeping cautiously through the corridors but began a whispered explanation for Archie's benefit, whilst keeping an eye upon their surroundings. "Basically, the Ionian authorities are now aware of our situation and should be sending reinforcements as soon as possible, it transpires that from our GPS location we are only about thirty minutes from the coast." Caitlyn paused, she was sure that she had heard something from further below them, after hearing nothing else she spoke again. "Apparently the weapon she wants is a piece of experimental hextechnology, they're not sure where it might be on the ship so I-" An incredibly loud bang interrupted the sheriff, and the two stared at one another, Archie terrified and Caitlyn beaming.

"That's my girl" murmured the brunette softly, grinning down the corridor towards the noise, Archie looked at her perplexed and the sheriff coughed inconspicuously, asking "what's below us?" Frowning in thought, the young captain brought the schematics of the ship into the forefront of his mind and tried desperately to remember; crew quarters, bathrooms, engine room, maintenance office, supplies. Gasping Archie stormed off through the corridor, launching himself at the door leading to the stairs, Caitlyn followed him immediately hissing "what is it?" The two were running full pelt now, Archie was all but throwing himself down the stairs, it seemed he was heading for the very bottom deck. The sounds of their steps reverberated in the stairwell, each thrum against the metal sounding absurdly loud to the sheriff. "The engine room" panted Archie, as he continued further down the stairs, "on my tour of the ship earlier, I noticed a large box in there, the crew mate showing me around told me it was nothing." Caitlyn nodded at the explanation and soon they found themselves at the foot of the stairwell, panting heavily, the sheriff sucked in a deep breath as she contemplated precisely what they were going to do.

Archie was struggling not to hyperventilate, honestly he had done more exercise in the last few hours than he ever wanted to, it was as he was watching Caitlyn stare down the corridor that a thought struck him. "How did you know it was Vi?" he asked perplexed, when the sheriff only threw him a confused glance he elaborated "the noise, you were sure it was her." At this Caitlyn chortled loudly, the young man furrowed his brows at the response and she clarified "trust me, I know what Vi punching something big and metal sounds like." Sobering up immediately the brunette grasped one of Archie's shoulders and warned "it's going to get intense now, if you wanted to back off and wait for the Ionians-" "All due respect sheriff, but no, I'm coming with you" he replied instantly, thin lipped but certain. Caitlyn nodded at him, business like once again, as she headed out into the industrial looking corridor she murmured "then let's go be heroes."

* * *

"It's boiling down here" moaned Vi, who was fanning herself with a folder she had picked up from a desk nearby, the enforcer felt like she was being cooked alive in the engine room. Miss Fortune shushed the other woman as she rested a hand atop the lid of the rectangular box in the far end of the room, wasting no time the pirate threw the cover to the side and eyed the contents eagerly. Unable to help her own curiosity the enforcer walked over to glance at whatever the redhead had needed so desperately, her face fell and Vi looked confusedly between the grinning Miss Fortune and the object, asking "Is that it?" The captain raised a mocking eyebrow at her before she reached into the box and brought out an antiquated silver revolver, and looked over it longingly. Snidely she stated "and I thought you were an expert in hextechnology" and Vi bristled at the comment, refuting "I am, but you already have two pistols, a rifle and a cutlass, why would you need more?" The enforcer paused for a moment, then grinned widely stating "unless you're going to start an _arms_ race, get it?!"

A loud groan emanated from behind the two women and both Vi and the captain turned to find themselves facing a young blonde man neither knew and the sheriff of Piltover palming her face. "Oh Vi that was awful" bemoaned Caitlyn, though there was no real malice in it, she was happier just seeing the other woman, especially when she was grinning like that. "Eurgh" groaned Miss Fortune, gesturing between the two women still beaming at one another she quipped "first, this is gross, second, you're supposed to be tied up." Emboldened, Caitlyn stepped further into the room, "yes, well you're not supposed to be on this ship, with that weapon, or holding my partner hostage." "Yes" cried out Vi, who was both insanely happy and uncomfortably aroused at this assertive side of Caitlyn, who afforded her a soft smile in response. Miss Fortune had been attempting to find an escape route since the moment Caitlyn and her companion had appeared in the doorway, scowling she reconciled that there was only one way out. Quick as a shot, the pirate raised the revolver and fired across the room, Archie fell to the ground with an anguished scream, clutching his thigh and convulsing as electricity coursed through his body.

A second later the blonde lay prone upon the ground, still twitching slightly though he looked unconscious, Caitlyn cursed herself for being so distracted and ran over to the young man. Miss Fortune smirked at the reaction, out of the corner of her eye she saw a giant mechanical fist heading straight for her and she threw herself onto the ground. Vi missed the swing and swore loudly, before righting herself and aiming a kick at where flaming red hair had been only seconds before, the pirate rolled to the side just avoiding the powerful attack. Caitlyn dug her fingers onto Archie's pulse point and held her breath as she listened intently, very slightly she could feel the thrumming of his heart, though it was much slower than ordinary. Sighing in relief, the sheriff gripped the unconscious young man under his shoulders and dragged him out of the way, leaning him against a rather large oblong piece of machinery.

Once he was safely out of the way, Caitlyn launched herself into the fray, pulling the cutlass from her side and swinging it down onto where Miss Fortune had just rolled onto the ground. Wide eyed, the captain watched the blades descent, she cringed as it come nearer, clenching her eyes tightly. The clashing of metal against metal caused cerulean orbs to open hesitantly, surprise flew across her features as Miss Fortune realised that the sword that had been bearing down upon her was held up by a pair of gauntlets. Caitlyn looked as shocked as the pirate felt, as she recognised the same thing, "we don't have to do this cupcake" stated Vi softly. "She's outnumbered, we can take her in" reminded the enforcer, who was gazing earnestly at her partner, who was staring into the fearful eyes of the captain below. Miss Fortune gulped at that moment and Caitlyn shook herself, raising the sword out of Vi's grip and breathing heavily. Vi exhaled gratefully, pausing one moment to remove the stolen rifle from where it had clattered to the ground next to the redhead, then grinning at the sheriff.

Archie wasn't aware of anything for quite some time, except that his thigh was warm and wet, frowning he hoped that he hadn't wet himself. That was all he needed, especially when he was surrounded by scantily clad league champions, at some sort of pool party. The blonde grinned as he surveyed the beautiful women surrounding him, there was Ahri and Katarina, and even Fiora, with some sort of inflatable sword. That seemed a bit silly but what did he know about Demacia, maybe they were all the rage there, suddenly his face was turned with a gentle hand. Sat looking very sultry and smirking next to him was Caitlyn, her fingers still upon his jaw and a very skimpy bikini upon her body. Even though he relished the image, some part of him knew that something wasn't quite right, how did he know though, he didn't think he had ever met the sheriff of Piltover. It was possible that she wore a bikini on board lots of ships, wait what, ships? Something was stirring uncomfortably in his consciousness, it was like trying to view a sign through dense fog, if he was at a pool party, he must be sunbathing, because his back was becoming rather hot and uncomfortable.

As soon as Caitlyn lifted the cutlass, Miss Fortune threw herself to the side and stood up, glaring at the two women across from her. Caitlyn tightened her grip upon the cutlass and Vi stepped closer, almost using her bulky frame to shield the smaller brunette from the pirate. "You were wrong" announced Miss Fortune loudly, narrowing her eyes at the pink haired woman and continuing "I might be outnumbered, but you'll never take me in." At that the redhead reached to her side and grabbed her cutlass, she lifted the sword and the revolver together and grinned as an emerald glow emanated from the two objects. Flummoxed by the strange behaviour, Vi turned to her partner only to find Caitlyn had dropped her jaw in shock and was watching Miss Fortune wide eyed. "She's going to create the hextech gunblade!" shrieked the brunette, tilting her head at the exclamation, Vi queried "I thought that only worked on the rift." Caitlyn replied tersely "it's magic Vi I don't know how it works! I'm not a fucking mage!" as she grabbed the enforcer and pulled her behind a large steel pillar.

Unbeknownst to Archie, who was still attempting to fight back towards consciousness, the boiler he was propped against was now scalding to the touch as the pressure dropped to catastrophic levels. All he knew was that the burning pain in his back was becoming absurdly painful, even when he turned over it continued to burn, which was very strange. "Here let me help you" whispered a low feminine voice, this was accompanied by a warming hand upon his neck, as well as heat upon the back of his head. The uncomfortable prickling of heat grew until he cried out "hey watch it", this time however the feminine voice was gone. Instead, a deep and gravely voice asked "is it hot in here or just me" and Archie jumped up startled, vision flashing white he could still hear the disturbing echoes of that statement. Gradually one of his eyes opened and he blinked sleepily, this looked like the engine room, maybe he had fallen asleep. A sharp pain gripped him at that moment and trying not to burst into tears, the young man looked down at the source of the pain to find his thigh was bleeding, quite badly too.

Looking out bewildered into the room, he found a red headed woman in the centre of the room, cackling madly as something within her hands let off an eerie green glow. Blinking again his eyes landed upon a pair of women crouching behind a steel pillar, realisation struck him and the memories of the evening flooded back to him. As did the severe pain in his back, groaning due to many sources of pain he fell forward onto the ground and his face splashed into a pool of water. Panic seized Archie, despite everything, he knew that that amount of water in the engine room was never a good thing, his eyes roved across the room searching for the culprit. At the same time, the fluorescent light ceased and Vi and Caitlyn peeked from behind their makeshift hiding place, anxiously watching Miss Fortune. Who now held a massive weapon within her hands and an evil smirk upon her face, "do you have a plan?" whispered Caitlyn, keeping her eyes on the triumphant looking captain. Vi pulled back from the brunette and hissed "I was going to ask you the same thing!"

After surmising that everything in the room was where it probably should be, except the demonic looking redhead, Archie grimaced before turning his head to look at what he sorely hoped wasn't the boiler. It was. Archie's heart rate sky-rocketed as he glanced between the damaged water valve and the pressure gauge, announcing that it was high time to get out of there. Miss Fortune was striding towards the two Piltover officers, smug as she held the large gunblade and pointed it towards them, gritting her teeth at the pirate, Vi shouted "stop, you're under arrest!" Miss Fortune chuckled lowly at the comment, stating "I'm more powerful than ever, who's going to stop me?" "The boiler!" screamed Archie, who was currently attempting to drag himself away from the incandescent oblong behind him. All three women stared at him, Caitlyn utterly relieved, then at the boiler he was pointing to, Miss Fortune was the first to react. All the colour drained from her face instantaneously and whilst Piltover's finest stared horrified at the creaking boiler, she launched herself from the room. Vi went to chase after the redhead but Caitlyn placed a hand upon her shoulder, "we can get her later, help me get him up."

Scowling, Vi watched the redhead fade from view before unclenching her jaw and groaning in frustration. "Hurry" snapped Archie, reminding them of the literal ticking time bomb in the room, not only that but he knew that his amount of blood loss would soon amount to another unconscious episode. He wanted to be as far away from the engine room and this entire ship before that happened, sheer agony caused his vision to flash white as the enforcer stooped to help him off the ground. Groaning loudly, Archie found himself supported on either side by the two women, tentatively they attempted to walk with him. The throbbing in his thigh was so painful it caused him to scream, the tendons in his neck bulged as Archie sobbed "this isn't working, you'll have to put me down." Vi shared a quick glance with the sheriff, who grimaced in response, before picking Archie up and lifting him over her shoulder, in order to carry him fireman style. Caitlyn grabbed her rifle from the pink haired woman, then she proceeded to sprint from the room, heading back towards the stairwell. Vi followed immediately, trying her best to ignore the screams of anguish from the man across her shoulders, as she pounded through the narrow corridor.

Eventually they arrived at the bottom of the staircase and Caitlyn took a deep breath before sprinting up them as fast as humanely possible, glancing over her shoulder she saw Vi not far behind. Archie was still groaning, which meant that he was at least conscious for now, even if he was in abject pain. Trying to formulate a plan in dire situations was always difficult, Caitlyn could only hope that their back up from Ionia arrived once they reached the upper deck, otherwise they were going to have to dive into the sea and swim for it. The sheriff did not want Miss Fortune and her band of brigands to escape but she also did not want any remaining aboard the valour, hopefully all of the crew had left. Caitlyn froze in place, turning around she shook Archie desperately shouting "where is the kitchen?" the blonde blinked at her blearily before murmuring "level three." Grimacing the brunette noted that they were already nearing level two so she waited for Vi to pass her and quickly pulled the woman close. The enforcer was surprised by the contact but was even more so by what Caitlyn said next.

"The rest of the crew is trapped near the kitchen, I can't leave them" stated the brunette, imploring her partner to understand, Vi shook her head violently. "No Caitlyn, we gotta go, this ship could blow any minute" protested the enforcer, Archie groaned feebly from across her shoulders. "Archie needs help. I'll be back I promise, just get to the top, grab a lifeboat if there are any" ordered the sheriff, for a moment her determined facade fell away and she reached up to gently trace the tattoo upon Vi's face. "Be safe Vi and I'll meet you there" whispered Caitlyn softly, surprising the both of them she launched upwards and pressed their lips together, for a brief moment. The sheriff pulled away and immediately pelted down the stairwell, heading towards the third level, Vi watched her go as she struggled with an internal battle. Deciding to listen to the brunette, or at least half of what she said, Vi threw herself up the stairs two at a time, she hoped for Archie's sake that there would be a healer waiting at the upper deck.

* * *

Panting heavily as she ran through the third level, Caitlyn sprinted round a corner and immediately reversed. There was a man stood outside what she surmised to be where the remaining crew were trapped. Obviously this man had no idea about what had happened, formulating a quick plan the sheriff stormed towards him, her stride confident. The appearance of a stranger caused him to reach for his cutlass, Caitlyn gripped her own tightly. "Haven't you heard?" she cried, "the boilers gone in the engine room, we need to evacuate!" Narrowing his eyes at the brunette, he barked "an' why should I believe ya?" she continued "captain said we're all to get on the ship now, if you want to stay here be my guest." Eyes narrowed in suspicion, the man glanced between the strange woman and the staircase, if the boiler really was knackered, he definitely wasn't staying here. Grunting his assent, the pirate all but ran down the corridor, disappearing from view once he reached the stairwell.

Caitlyn watched him leave and then immediately reached for the door handle, she was pleasantly surprised when it swung open, less so when she noticed how many men were crammed into the cabin. It was obvious that most of them had been beaten, a few were lying unconscious on the ground, the rest were bound with rope. The sheriff set to work, freeing those closest to her, while doing so she made the stark announcement "the boiler in the engine room has reached critical levels, we need to get off this ship right now." Many of those conscious blanched at the news, Caitlyn sent them off towards the stairwell as she let them loose. The vast majority of those who left had taken one of their unconscious or unable to walk, crew mates with them, carrying them over their shoulders or slung over two persons. Eventually the room was cleared and the sheriff exhaled shakily, running a hand through her dark brown hair as she surveyed the cabin one last time. Satisfied Caitlyn flew from the room and ran towards the stairwell, as she started climbing upwards however, an awfully loud rumbling caused the metal beneath her feet to vibrate.

Horrified, the sheriff began pelting up the stairs, running at her full capacity and breathing heavily, the physical exertion and overall stress of the day were starting to wear her down. Up ahead, she could hear the footsteps of the last crew mates she had set free, the metal staircase was beginning to shudder dangerously, gritting her teeth Caitlyn pushed herself further. Finally she could smell the faint sea breeze, and with a final burst of energy, Caitlyn raced up and out onto the upper deck. Panting with exhaustion, she had to refrain from falling to her knees and instead her eyes darted across the deck attempting see through the thick fog and find- suddenly Caitlyn felt herself being lifted into the air and though she bristled immediately, the feel of mechanical fingers reassured her. Vi gently placed the other woman on the floor, grinning as she did so, in lieu of words the enforcer grabbed Caitlyn's face and pulled their mouths together. Their moment was interrupted by a far more dramatic rumbling than the sheriff had felt in the stairwell and it brought both of them back to the issue at hand. Vi pulled the brunette after her and relayed what she knew "we have a lifeboat, Archie is on it with the other crew men, he's still with us."

Letting lose a sigh of relief, the sheriff sprinted after Vi and asked tersely "what about the pirates?" the enforcer scoffed replying "they've just left, not got too far though so here's hoping the Ionians catch them up. We've had to drop the lifeboat so we're ready to go, just need to climb down here." Caitlyn tried to peer over the edge but found it was too difficult to see through the mist, she hoped that everyone was aboard. "Ladies first" prompted Vi, offering a charming smile to the bemused brunette, rolling her eyes good naturedly she threw herself over the side and climbed down carefully. As Caitlyn descended, Vi also appeared over the side and followed her descent, unlike Vi she was content to enjoy the view and not voice any lecherous thoughts. At least until they were further away from the very liable to explode ship, then maybe she could offer a full apology for her awful behaviour earlier in the day. Once the two of them landed upon the smaller boat, two of the able bodied crew mates set about casting them from the ship, as they did so however, an extraordinarily loud groaning noise emanated from the hull.

Finally free from the moorings with the Valour, their life boat started to putter away from the still groaning ship, Caitlyn chewed her lip nervously, if the explosion happened soon, they were not far enough away to be safe. Vi must have noticed too, as she reached over to grip Caitlyn's hand tightly, they both watched the ship nervously, aside from the motor, all were silent. There was a flash of bright white light from the base of the ship and Caitlyn knew they were not far enough, gritting her teeth the sheriff watched as the boiler finally caved and the entire engine room imploded. Vi wrapped her arms around the smaller brunette, angling them so any debris would hit her first, she felt the roaring heat from the ship before the sound reached her, popping her eardrums painfully. The shock wave from the blast even rocked the lifeboat, affecting the waves surrounding the Valour and causing them to bob dangerously in the sea. The strange thing was that as of yet, nothing had hit Vi, by all rights she should have been showered with fiery debris from an explosion that size and that close.

Unclenching her eyes, Vi caught sight of something that made her sorely question her sanity, a tail had just disappeared underneath the waves. Blinking rapidly the enforcer found herself staring at nothing but fog and the sea, frowning confusedly she turned around to stare at the Valour. Shock flooded her features as Vi realised that they were nowhere near the ship, the shock wave from the blast couldn't have been that powerful, yet they were leagues away from the fireball that was once their ship. It was only possible to make out the faint red through the thick fog, the rest of the Valour was obscured, which hadn't been the case just seconds ago. Caitlyn lifted her head from Vi's chest and surveyed the scene, her jaw dropped at the enhanced distance and Vi simply shrugged at her, beaming. The men around her were also surprised, a loud cheer rang from them, those closest to Caitlyn patted her on the back and applauded her for saving them. A fervent blush appeared upon the sheriff's face as she assured the men that it was nothing, Vi thought she had never looked as beautiful as she did at that moment. A steady thrumming caught their attention and everyone looked up to watch as a large helicopter descended through the mist, hovering just to the right of them, "oh look" murmured Archie deliriously, "the cavalry's here."

* * *

"All things considered, I would say that the both of you were very lucky" stated Soraka airily as she spoke to two of the occupants within her healing chambers, Vi grinned widely in thanks. The enforcer was already jumping up and out of the cot, keen to get out and stretch her legs, she launched onto Caitlyn's bed eagerly. The sheriff raised an eyebrow at the antics, before chuckling and offering their healer a grateful "thank you", Soraka nodded at the comment, moving on to her next patient. "How is he?" asked the sheriff nervously as the mage pressed a hand upon the young blonde's forehead, "he will be fine" replied Soraka, raising an eyebrow at the sheriff, indicating that this was not the first time that question had been asked. "He is fortunate that the bullet did not hit anything vital, otherwise he would need more than rest" stated the healer bluntly, as she moved on to examine an unconscious crew mate. The sheriff could not help gritting her teeth as thoughts of Miss Fortune swam to the forefront of her mind, the image of her stood with the hextech gunblade and smirking was almost enough to make Caitlyn snarl.

The sheriff felt strong fingers gently prising her fist open, and the roaring in her ears abated as she took a deep calming breath. Caitlyn hadn't even been aware that she was clenching her fists, she allowed herself to fall back into the cot, and turned within a familiar pair of arms to face a concerned Vi. The enforcer smiled at her, a big toothy grin that Caitlyn adored, her face fell as she remembered how truly insufferable she had been earlier that day towards Vi. "I'm sorry" whispered Caitlyn softly, taking a moment to trace one of her fingers gently across the other woman's jaw, Vi turned her face to press her lips upon the finger and murmured "I know." An amicable silence descended, both women content to enjoy their current position, Caitlyn had to admit she had never felt so comfortable. Her eyelids begun fluttering and she had to restrain herself from yawning, glancing blearily at a clock halfway across the room, she was not surprised to find it was almost midnight. It had certainly been a long and challenging day, she supposed that it could have been much worse, even with that smug pirate escaping with the gunblade right from under her nose.

"Stop brooding" stated Vi sleepily, Caitlyn looked up at the pink haired woman and frowned upon finding that her eyes were closed, "you were doing that angry breathing thing." The sheriff snorted indignantly, responding curtly "I do no such thing", with her eyes still closed Vi smirked, acquiescing "sure cupcake, I believe you." Swatting at the enforcer, who couldn't help laughing, Caitlyn pouted and crossed her arms, sighing dramatically. Vi cracked one eye open, grinning at the sheriffs theatrics, still laughing she unhooked Caitlyn's arms from one another and placed them around her own neck. Raising an eyebrow at the forwardness of that move, Caitlyn remained in that position, a little bit pleased at the intimate nature of it. It was strange, looking at Vi like this, completely at ease, pink hair ruffled and adorably squinting at her, but Caitlyn was enamoured with it. "Your eyes look funny" murmured Vi, at the brunette's confused head tilt she explained "the black bits really big, the pupil?" Rather embarrassed Caitlyn ducked her head, she could feel her cheeks were reddening rapidly and she had to bite down upon her lip to try and stem the massive grin.

Far more awake than earlier, Vi regarded the other woman curiously, feeling rather worried by that reaction, "is something wrong?" she queried nervously. Caitlyn lifted her head at the comment, shaking her head but looking quite overwhelmed, her hazel eyes looked as if they shimmering. "No Vi" replied the brunette, earnestly staring at her partner and smiling softly, after a moments pause she whispered "I just- I really like you." "Of course you do, I'm amazing" replied Vi with an exaggerated wiggle of her eyebrows, Caitlyn narrowed her eyes at the pink haired woman and sighed. Vi quickly placed her hands firmly upon the sheriff's waist and whispered "I really like you too" before leaning in closer and pressing her lips upon Caitlyn's cheek sweetly. The show of affection caused Caitlyn's heart to flutter, and her grin tripled in size, until she was positively beaming at the enforcer. Vi was still impossibly close, their noses were just about touching and Caitlyn was staring hesitantly at her azure eyes, upon finding the pupils to be as blown as her own must be, she chuckled. Taking the initiative, Caitlyn pressed herself forward, leaning in close to press her mouth against Vi's.

Even though Vi supposed that the two of them were technically dating, although escaping from pirates and an exploding ship together couldn't really be considered a date, it still left her pleasantly surprised whenever Caitlyn kissed her. Maybe it was because she considered the sheriff to be so far out of her league, or perhaps it was because there was still a part of her deep down that worried whether Caitlyn might still be struggling with her sexuality. Regardless, Vi had never been one not to take advantage of opportunities, raising one of her hands from Caitlyn's waist to place it upon the back of her head and angling the kiss deeper. The action caused Caitlyn to groan as she felt Vi running her fingers through long auburn hair at the same time as her tongue probed against the sheriff's lips. Vi grinned as she felt Caitlyn open her mouth against her own and she couldn't help a low moan as she felt a roaming hand palm her chest, and lightly pinching an immediately erect nipple. The clearing of a throat caused Caitlyn's eyes to bulge and she turned quickly to find Soraka stood at the foot of their cot, the mage was trying not to grin and doing a poor job of it.

"I have finished my rounds" she breathed softly, reacting immediately to the other voice Vi's head snapped up and still in a bit of a post-Caitlyn haze, she grinned nervously at the mage. "Perhaps your affections might be better saved for a more private setting" stated Soraka, glancing pointedly at the other cots in the room, at the word private Caitlyn lifted her hand from upon Vi's breast as if she had been burned by it. A fervent blush was spreading across the sheriff's face and her partner fared no better, Vi's pink hair unduly messy and clashing with the red hue upon her cheeks. Raising an eyebrow at the two of them, Soraka turned and strode from the room, unable to help the smirk that grew across her face. When some of the other champions within the league had started a betting pool on when the two women from Piltover were going to make their absurdly obvious relationship official, most of the Ionians had dismissed it as frivolous. Soraka had had no such scruples, as a matter of fact, she had even participated, making an educated guess as to the date. The smirk became a smug grin as the mage made her way through the corridors of the Ionian embassy, considering that the duo had just been caught in an intense make out session, Soraka felt very confident her future self would be quite wealthy.


End file.
